


Out of the Blue

by Mandochk



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Book Character dropped in Real World, Domestic Fluff, Dwarven Ones | Soulmates, F/M, On Hiatus, occasional smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:00:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28128786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandochk/pseuds/Mandochk
Summary: When Fili died he thought his soul would return back to the earth from which Mahal had forged him. What he got was something entirely different. This is what happens when he wakes up to find himself in the guest bedroom of one Amber Porter
Relationships: Fili / Original Female Character
Comments: 30
Kudos: 38





	1. To the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspiration : Not Gonna Die (+ Intro) - Skillet.

#  **Fili POV**

Was this what it was like to die?

I could feel pain in every part of my body as if a thousand blades had pierced my flesh. How had it come to this? I could remember falling, the sickening feeling of my stomach dropping to the ground as it came up to meet me way too fast. I didn't remember the impact, all I remembered was the pain and then the sensation of cold drifting into every part of my body as the life ebbed from me. For a while, I had struggled against it - not wanting to accept that this was how it would end. They expected me to help my uncle retake Erebor, was supposed to fight by his side and come out the other side victorious.

I wasn't supposed to die, hadn't even expected to fall into such an obvious trap and be hurled from a tower by the enemy of my people.

But I couldn't fight this. Each breath had been harder to take as darkness settled into my mind and the chill grew deep in my bones. I'd done all that I could, had performed to the best of my skills, and the only thing I could do now was drift into whatever afterlife awaited my people. A quiet acceptance floated into my thoughts, a realisation that maybe this wouldn't be that bad.

The moment dragged on into infinity, the pain and chill gathering in every part of me, and then I took one last shuddering breath as my body finally gave up on me.

**"Don't Close Your Eyes"**

A voice in the blackness. It pulled me toward it, away from life as I had once known it and toward whatever waited beyond. It was soft and reassuring. Soothing my spirit after the shock of being parted from my body, and I just let my thoughts wander as I drifted toward the point where the voice had emanated ... could you call it 'thoughts' now I was dead? Maybe I should call it sentience instead? I didn't know. I'd had some lessons on what they presumed death to be like, but so far this was a lot different from what I expected.

It was peaceful at least, a world away from the noise and panic that I had experienced at the battle of the five armies so I couldn't complain. I just followed the sound of the voice, floating toward a point of warmth and light within the darkness that had now become my existence.

**_"No. Not going to die tonight!"_ **

Another voice, a different voice - this one deeper than the other but still little more than a whisper in the wind. Wasn't I already dead? My body laid bent and broken on the battlefield. Perhaps that was my soul crying out, a last cry to whatever god might listen that I was far from ready to let go.

The illumination within the dark void still seemed so far away, and yet all too close at the same time - beckoning me toward it like a moth to a flame. I hesitated at that bright doorway, afraid to make that ultimate step into the warmth that awaited beyond, and yet unable to resist whatever siren call it had upon my soul. The pull was insistent, each tug sending a flurry of sensation through my spirit.

**"Don't Close Your Eyes,"**

The voice was back. It was louder and more insistent this time as it flowed all around my spirit. I could tell that it belonged to a woman now that I was closer to whom ever was talking. The speaker's tone was panicked and desperate, the indistinct voice occasionally rising in fever pitch as the pull at my soul intensified. I wanted to believe that someone on the battlefield was urging me to return to my body, which was ludicrous since no women had been at the battle and thus I pushed that thought away from my head. So who then was so worried for me?. I shifted my weight beneath me, an odd sensation when one didn't have a body to go with it, and tilted in toward the light at the same time as it came towards me.

No! Not yet, I wasn't ready! But there was no return now I had crossed the threshold.

A million fires burned in my nerve endings as the light forced its way into every part of my being. Burning heat would envelope my spirt one moment, only to be replaced by freezing cold and the distant sensation of warmth pressed itself in against my forehead. The familiar feeling of heavy limbs returned to my thoughts, a foreign phenomenon as my brain tried to make sense of what was happening.

Was I supposed to have limbs in the halls of my ancestors?

Fizzing sparks of electric shock bloomed in my fingertips, prodding at my brain as if trying to make it recognize that the limb belonged to my body. It felt attached, and yet not fully part of me - as if my spirit had yet to determine if it owned this fresh form or not. The distinct feeling of pressure built in my chest, compressing me until I felt as if I could take it no more, and then I took a shuddering breath. Mild panic fluttered through my body as my wandering thoughts snapped back into focus, heart pounding in my chest like a wild beast as my soul realised that it was within a body once again and recalled what it was like to live.

"Shhh, Relax,"

A sound of discontent bloomed into life in my throat. How was I supposed to relax? I had died! Or maybe I'd been in a coma and had been laying in the healing wing the whole time? My confused brain tried to sort out the facts, tried to find some explanation for what I had experienced and yet no answers came to my brain. The feeling of cool skin pressed against my forehead again, barely seeming to make contact, and yet it still quelled the rising panic attack.

"The fever has broken. That's good,"

A Fever? I'd had a fever? Well, it made sense if I thought about it. Fever wasn't uncommon with the injured as they fought infected wounds. The icy hand left my forehead all too quickly, my heart racing once more at the loss of sensation, but slowing when I felt a palm slipping in under the back of my head. My head was elevated and tilted somewhat forward, the sensation of something cold and wet being pressed to my lips. I could practically cry for joy as I felt water trickle into my parched mouth.

"Where am I?"

The sound of my voice brought with it further awareness of my body. My head felt as if it were a massive lump of iron ore, heavy and unbreakable. My eyes felt even heavier, as if during my sleep someone had welded them shut, and it took me an age to gain the strength to open them.

My vision was blurry at first, but each groggy blink brought more of her face into focus and allowing a better view of her. The first thought I registered was that she had the most remarkable hair style I had ever seen in my life. The top half of the woman's light brown hair was drawn up into a small bun which only drew further attention to the fact that the sides and back of her head were closely shaven. Her lips pulled into a firm line, the lower lip slightly turned inward as she worried at it with her teeth, and I briefly thought they looked rather kissable.

Mahal's sake. This was my healer I was thinking about here! The last thing the poor soul needed was to have her ward think of her in such a way.

I distracted myself by examining her face instead. The shape of said face could loosely be interpreted as triangular, wider at the forehead and tapering down into a narrow pointed chin. A well groomed brow was raised as if still contemplating my question and a pair of piercing blue eyes met my own.

"I found you collapsed in my back garden and dragged you inside. My name is Amber Porter and You're in my guest bedroom right now. Lord knows why I took you in, I should have called the cops you know."

She muttered something about her good dead for the week under her breath as another spike of panic made itself known. Back garden? Cops? I didn't know what either of those words meant. Come to think of it, even her accent sounded peculiar. The syllables were evenly stressed, with each 'r' trilled out in such a way that it made her sound melodic. My very shaky hand lifted to pinch the bridge of my nose, but could only reach halfway before my muscles gave out on me.

"Is this one of Kili's stupid jokes? Can you tell him it's neither the time nor place for it?"

The woman looked mildly amused by my words. I didn't know how my brother had roped her into this elaborate prank, what he had offered in return, but I was way past wanting the joke to be finished with.

"The alcohol must still be in your system. I told you, you are no longer at whatever hobbit themed party you've come from."

Her body eased back in her chair, her voice switching to a more vexed tone, and her arm moved to indicate the far corner of the room. A wooden chair was neatly arranged in the corner, with a folded pile of clothing resting upon it and what I recognised to be my sword angled against its arm.

"I had a look through your costume but found no phone, Do you have a next of kin I could contact?"

Phone? Next of Kin? What was she talking about? The feeling of breathlessness returned as the panic continued to bloom in my chest. If this was one of my brother's elaborate pranks, then it wasn't a very nice one to pull.

"Phone?. Mahal, what are you talking about?."

Ordinarily I would be ashamed to hear such fear in my voice, but I didn't have the mental fortitude to contain it. Her face softened as she turned to examine me once, though there was something in her eyes that said she must think me insane. My gaze wandered from her face to scan the room that I was in, almost immediately wishing that I hadn't for it did not resemble any room that I was familiar with. The walls were painted a calming shade of periwinkle blue that did little to calm me. Pale wood boards made up the flooring of the room, softened up by a rug that was color coordinated with the walls. The room was uncommonly bright, lit by some kind of magical item that hung from the white ceiling of the chamber.

"You really don't know what I am talking about do you? Do you at least remember your name?"

I couldn't pull my eyes away from the light, found myself entranced by it, and I wondered just what kind of wizard had the power to create such a thing. Somehow I summoned the strength to push myself up to a sitting position, the heavy sheets falling from my body and causing a sudden chill to wash over my body. The woman hadn't stripped me of all my clothing, thank Mahal for that, but my thin cotton jerkin did little to protect me from the cool temperature of the room.

"Fili, Son of Dis,"

I heard her inhale a sharp breath, the sound emphasized by her tongue clicking against the top of her mouth. Her movements were almost silent as she ran to press a steadying hand to the top of my arm. I had to close my arms against a wave of vertigo that had made itself known in my body. The horrifying thought I might not be in Erebor anymore crossed my mind. No wizard could create an illusion that was this strong, and healers were professional enough to know when a joke had gone too far.

"You must think I have lost my mind,"

The look on her face seemed to suggest such a thing. Air filled her lungs and then was let out in a long exhale as she guided my body back down into the bed. The cushioning against my back was both impossibly soft and yet firm all at the same time. Nothing like the stuffed straw mattresses that I had become used to. Everything about the room I was in set me on edge and I briefly wondered if it might have been better if I had lingered in the limbo between worlds.

"Yes ... No,"

Her voice sounded hesitant, her hand leaving my shoulder, and dropping to her side where it twisted into her loosely fitting short-sleeve shirt. There was no other way to describe the curious item of clothing. My eyes wandered against my will, wondering what else the woman was wearing, and then tearing my eyes away from her the moment I realised she was wearing what looked like a very short pair of brais. I'd never seen a woman in clothing that was so revealing before!

"I don't want to believe it. That you are just giving me some far fetched drunkards tale, but something keeps telling me it's not. You're the real deal? The real Fili?"

My head nodded, the movement causing the surrounding room to spin as the dizziness returned. Why on earth would I not be real? I tried not to laugh at the preposterous idea that I was some kind of impostor - then the sound died off.

"I ... I am not in Erebor am I?"

The sound of a body collapsing into a chair reached my ears, and I partially opened my eyes to look at the woman that was now slumped into the chair. Her face was impossibly pale and eyes wide in shock. I felt guilt gnaw into my heart at the sight. The gods of my world had dumped me on this poor woman, who must feel just as panicked as I did, and I had no words of comfort to give her. Her hand was rubbing at the back of her shaven head, as if trying to ward off an anxiety attack of her own.

"Mahal, Am I even in Middle Earth?"

Her eyes fixed on mine, apologetic as she finally confirmed my fears.

"No. Your not in Middle Earth anymore,"

Mahal preserve what was I going to do! I was on a strange world, with a woman that I didn't know, and there wasn't any way for me to go back the way I had come.


	2. A brand new Day

****

#  **~*~ Amber POV ~*~**

#  ****

This was insanity, absolute sheer insanity. The man I had rescued was claiming to be Fili son of Dis! How could that even be feasible. Fili was a character from a fictional novel and a rather popular series of movies! Every bit of rationale in my mind shouted at me that the man was either drunk, or had hit his head on something. The absolute sheer panic on his pale face, however, could not be faked. His hazel eyes were wide, almost a pale brown hue in the bright light in the room, and had been focused on the lightbulb for far too long.

This was a man who had never seen a lightbulb before.

How was it that a fictional character had found themselves in my backyard? This was impossible! Scientists liked to argue about parallel universes all the time, but to have someone pulled out of some other space and time? Was that even probable? My body sank back in against the chair, a reminder that what I was going through was very real. Fili son of Dis was laid in my guest bed, his chest rising and falling too fast. It was an unmistakable sign that he was dealing with this stress just about as good as me. Which was to say, he wasn't handling it very well at all. He was in an alien world that was not his own, and all I could do was gawk at him from my chair.

What did you say to someone in this situation? There didn't seem to be any words that could even come close. The one thing that I knew was that right now I was not being the best of hosts towards him. It took a monumental effort to push myself from my chair, the palms of my hands brushing over my vest top and making sure that it laid flat against my body. Once sure that I looked more put together I turned back to the blond dwarf that still laid on my bed - his eyes now fixed on the ceiling as if that was the safest spot for him to be looking.

"You must have a lot of questions. But First I will go get us a cup of tea ... that will help with the shock,"

Yes. Tea was what we both needed.

As I made my way out of the guest room, my eyes roamed to the sword that rested against the chair not that far away. When I had first seen it I had marvelled at how well made the prop had been, but now I knew that it was all too real and the notion crossed my mind that it would be prudent to hide his weapons out of sight. It was a plan that was fast pushed out of my mind. I knew enough about the man from the films to know that he was a gentleman. He wouldn't attack an unarmed woman. Besides, taking away the weapons would only make him feel ill at ease in a world that to him must be full of peril.

My feet softly padded against the wooden floor of my hall wall as I walked towards the kitchen. The first hints of the rising sun spilling in from the partially open door of my sitting room informing me that the day had already started. I groaned as responsibility gnawed at my thoughts. I had spent all night caring for a stranger and had all but forgotten my work shift in a few hours' time. Taking a day off work wasn't something I liked to do. My mother had raised me to be a hardworking, responsible woman, but I couldn't leave Fili alone in my home!

God knows what would happen if he left the room and discovered all the technology in my home! I had visions of a destroyed television and a panicked dwarf hiding behind the sofa.

I retrieved my cellphone from the kitchen countertop as I slipped into my compact kitchen, fingers tapping in the familiar number quickly and then tucking the object under my chin as I busied myself with the kettle. Anxiety bloomed in my chest as I waited for my boss to answer, detesting that I would have to lie, but what other choice did I have? Fingertips brushed over cold marble, smoothing over the surface as if to clean it, but achieving nothing as I had already cleaned the surface the previous day.

"Good Morning. Jillian's Gifts and Homeware, Jillian speaking, how can I help?"

This was it. I would just have to tell a lie to my dearest friend and I hated myself for it. My shaking hand pulled over a pale blue mug so I could drop a tea bag into it and then fill it with water from the freshly boiled kettle.

"Morning, it's Amber. Sorry to have to do this to you today at such short notice, but I won't be coming in. I've woken up with the mother of all migraines and I can barely get out of the bed, let alone drive in today,"

I could hear the woman's concerned 'hm' from down the line. Jillian was only two years older than myself, but the way she acted you would think she was my grandmother instead.

"Oh Amber, I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you need anything? I Can send Gordon on over with a few bits if you like, I am sure he won't mind."

A smile spread over my lips. Jillian's husband Gordon was a lovely man and would do anything to make his wife happy - even if that thing was to take supplies to his wife's sick employee. However, the last thing I needed right now was for Gordon to come over to check on me.

"Oh, no. I appreciate the thought, but I have everything I need."

"Throw me a text if you change your mind. Now get yourself to bed woman you sound awful,"

I was glad that my feigned 'I'm sick' voice worked so well, but still hated myself for the lie. I exchanged goodbyes with the woman and returned my attention to making the tea. When Fili had first woken up I had assumed I could send him on his way, but I couldn't do that now. Fili might well be able to survive well enough in the wild, but surviving in the jungle that was the city was a different matter. The poor soul would be run over by a truck by the end of the day if I threw him out. It was a guilt I knew that I would never live down.

That left only one other choice.

Fili would stay with me as my guest as long as he needed. I could educate him about the world, introduce him to technology and make sure he had all the tools he needed to survive the Cambridge rush hour traffic. The feeling of the warm cups under my palms as I pulled them onto a tray was a comfort, giving me a silent confidence that I sorely needed whilst I planned out the day. Today I would have to introduce Fili to the essentials - with the bathroom being right at the top of my to-do list.

A pile of plain biscuits was added to the tray. I didn't know how hungry Fili was; he was going through a lot, but I at least wanted to give him the opportunity to have something to eat. Once I was sure I had everything I needed the tray was hoisted into my hands and I carried it out of the room. The next thing I would have to introduce the dwarf to would need to be the kitchen.

My next work shift wouldn't be for another day or so and the dwarf needed to know how to get himself some water and that the fridge was nothing to fear. I would need to pre-make some meals for him. While I was sure he could use the microwave to reheat things easily enough, the oven was another matter altogether. I pushed the prospect of teaching him how to cook right down to the bottom of my list of things to teach Fili.

The living room was also lower on my list of priorities. I had more tech in that room than I had anywhere in the house, and it wasn't a room he needed as an essential. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep him out of the room, that he would no doubt go exploring my home under his own steam the moment I wasn't here, but that worry would have to wait for now.

First worry was making sure that he knew where the bathroom was and how to use the damned toilet because the last thing I wanted was to come home after work Friday night and have to clean up after him missing the bowl or some gross crap like that. Lord knows I had already dealt with enough of my brother's messes after he had crashed at mine the previous Christmas because of a raging argument with his wife. I had always maintained that it was my brother's gross habit of not cleaning up that got him kicked out and not because he had just offended her mother with some silly off hand comment.

My head shook, pushing out the thoughts of my brother as I shouldered open the door into the guest room. Fili was sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his legs and head held between his hands. His thin jerkin did nothing to hide his body from my gaze, my eyes roving his heavily muscled back and then sweeping back up to focus on the muscles on his arms. I'd never been attracted to muscular men, but there was something about the sight of Fili's body that made my heart flutter in excitement. The sensation of my cheeks warming was all the reminder I needed to not be staring at the dwarf.

"Here. I brought some biscuits too,"

Fili brushed his arm over his face as if he had been crying and only looked up once he'd carefully masked his grief. It was a reminder of just how archaic the world he had come from was. The modern world was still that way in some places, but at least it was coming to a point where men could cry without it being viewed as a weakness. I didn't bring the matter up, not wanting to embarrass the man, and handed him a cup. His large hands took the item from me, surprisingly gentle for their size, and he offered me a shaky smile.

"Thank you. You've been nothing but kind."

I lowered the tray to the desk beside him so I could pull my chair closer to the bed and then took my cup from the tray. His eyes were fixated on the cup, the pads of his fingers worrying over the surface of the mug, and then closed them for a fleeting moment. When they opened again, there was the faintest edge of fear, as if he did not want to ask whatever question bothered him, and yet he knew that the question must be asked.

"If ... I am not in middle earth anyone, then where am I?"

My fingers carded together, the mug warming my hands as I also peered down into the rippling surface of my tea. I knew what I needed to do, knew that it was now my job to teach the dwarf about the world, but that didn't make it any easier to do. The liquid rippled more when I blew at its surface, cooling the heated liquid as much as possible before taking a sip - fortifying myself for the conversation to come.

"In broad terms you are on planet Earth. If you want a more specific one, then you are in the city of Cambridge, in England,"

I didn't want to look at him. His face must have been an absolute picture of pain and anguish. The courage I had felt not that long ago evaporated from my system, leaving nothing but guilt in its place. I hated that I had to do this. There were thousands of Hobbit fangirls in the world that would have loved this, would have loved for Fili to fall into their garden and teach them how to function in the world. The reality was far from their romanticised ideals. It was terrifying and all too depressing.

"The world outside this room is nothing like the one you left in middle earth. Your world is medieval. Our world is modern and full of technology. Such things won't be achieved in your world for thousands of years to come ... if at all,"

The warmth of the cup against my lips didn't help calm my racing thoughts, but it gave me time to look at the man. He still had his arms rested on his legs, hands relaxed between his knees where he held his cup, and eyes focused on a point two paces in front of his body - as if the carpet had all the answers he sought. A brief look of hope crossed his face, his head raising to look at me, and I felt my heart sink when he blurted out his next question.

"Technology? Like magic? Do ... do you think it can send me back?"

It was only natural that he'd want to go home. That he wouldn't want to stay in this forsaken reality that he'd now found himself thrown into. I wished I had the power to grant him that wish, to send him back home to the cruel fate that awaited him. A sick sensation settled into my stomach as I wondered at what point of the story he'd been pulled from. How did I even ask him such a question? How did you tell someone that they were little more than a character in a fantasy novel and you knew about the last years of their life? My eyes slipped back down to stare at the tea.

"No. Not magic. We have no actual magic in this world ... just parlour tricks. I don't think there is a way back to your world ..."

We hadn't even landed anyone on the moon for a couple dozen years, let alone develop a way to travel between dimensions. Part of me wondered if there was a way for his world to pull him back with its magic, but again that sick sensation returned as I thought about how his life would end. Whilst I didn't know him very well as a person, I at least knew enough to know he deserved a better fate. Here he could have a fairly peaceful life once he had settled in. Maybe he might even meet someone and start his own family?

Yes, that would be far better than him dying alone in the battle of the five armies ... providing that hadn't happened already ... fuck, what if he had? What if he had died and there really was no way back?

He was giving me a funny look. He raised both brows, a baleful expression making itself known as he digested the fact that this world did not have the same magic in it that his did. The skin of his face was still deathly pale, the braids of his moustache twitching with the movement of his lips as he lifted his cup to sip at his tea. The warm liquid would hopefully stave off the worst of his shock - the last thing I needed was for him to faint on my floor given I had struggled to pull him into the bed the previous night. The man weighed a literal tonne even without his armor and I'd be damned if I would pull my back out on top of everything else.

"What now?"

Poor guy sounded defeated. Everything he had ever known had been ripped out under him. At least fate had been kind enough to throw him at the door of someone that would look after him instead of throwing themselves at him or checking him into the closest mental health facility. I plopped my cup onto the table and moved from my chair to sit beside him on the bed. I knew what I was about to do was probably unseemly for women in his world, but the poor guy badly needed a hug from someone. His back felt warm and firm as I snaked my arm around his shoulders, carefully pulling him against my side and rubbed my hand over his bicep calmingly.

"For now, you are my guest,"

His body was tense, not used to a woman providing comfort in such a comradely way. The most experience he probably had with women was the love of his own mother and maybe the local brothel if Dwarves where inclined to visit such a place. I had not read many of Tolkien's other books so did not understand what kind of moral code dwarves had. Jealousy made itself known, an odd sensation to have at the thought a man you barely knew might have partaken in the joys of such a place. Fili's eyes were once again settled on my carpet, barely lifting for more than a few minutes at a time as if he was still familiarising himself with the world at a pace comfortable to him.

"Thank You. It must not be easy to accept a stranger into your home. Will your husband be okay with this?"

Husband? Oh, yes, that was right. Women didn't live alone in his world. I had almost forgotten about that minor fact. My hand rubbed against the back of my scalp, trying to ease the tension that gathered there, and managed a kind of awkward smile.

"I don't have a husband. I live alone,"

I let out an apologetic sigh, letting my arm slip down from his shoulder and resting both of my hands in my lap. Fili looked beyond horrified at the idea that a woman lived on her own. Brows raised almost to where they become one with his hair. I would have laughed at the look on his face if the conversation were not that serious. My hand moved to pat his knee in what I hoped to be a calming way.

"You've got a lot to learn I am afraid."


	3. New Knowledge and Grief

#  **Fili POV**

The thought that this young woman lived on her own was an affront to everything I knew.

Women where to be treasured and protected, and yet her family had left her to fend for herself. The apologetic look on her face was all I needed to know she understood my concerns, as if she knew all too well the world I had come from. I got the feeling that perhaps she knew more about me then maybe she was letting on, her eyes holding a brief familiarity of my name, but I had not the courage to push her on the matter just yet. Right now my only focus was on relieving myself from the sensation of an all too full bladder.

Amber walked in front of me as she guided me toward a room she had called a bathroom. Now that I was on my feet it was much easier to get a gauge on just how tall she was. The woman was shorter than myself, the top of her head reaching my eye level, and I wondered if all humans where this short in this new world.

Given the state of undress that she was walking around in I also was able to take note of her general build. She did not have the slim build I often saw in human women, women whom often struggled day in and day out to feed themselves. Amber was slightly thicker but not in a way that made her fat - it was more the body of someone that had a good diet. Kili would have called her 'proportionate' with the broadest grin, as if he where some great philosopher of the world.

Thinking of my brother left a terrible sensation of unease and guilt in the pit of my stomach. Kili and Thorin had relied on me, had needed my help to reclaim Erebor, and I just had to get myself killed at the most desperate hour. I tried to push it away, knowing there was nothing I could do to change what had happened now, the past was behind me and the only thing I could now directly influence was the future.

Right now my focus was just to get through the day.

Amber slowed to a halt in front of a plain white door and pushed it open. For a moment the room beyond was dark, then she flipped a switch on the wall and the room was thrown into light. This 'science' the powered the magical light in the room was beyond my knowledge and more then a little terrifying. I knew it couldn't harm me, after all Amber seemed calm enough in it's presence, but that didn't stop me being a little fearful of it. My fingers reached for the knife that usually rested at my side but reached nothing but air - telling me that like the rest of my weapons it was back in the guest bedroom.

The woman let out a low sound, drawing my attention away from the light and toward where she stood by the oddest item I had seen in my life. The room was full of odd items now that I thought about it, but what I would later learn was called a toilet had to be the most bizarre of the bunch. The toilet looked rather like a chair in it's form, with an oval bowl to do one's business in and a large blocky cistern to flush it away.

Amber was a patient teacher, explaining how indoor plumbing worked to the best of her ability, and pointing out what the two buttons on the top of the cistern did. Then stepped aside as she offered me a nervous smile, one hand motioning back towards the door we had entered from.

"If you need anything just give me a yell, I'll be right outside the door"

I got the distinct impression that she was worried that I might break her toilet somehow, and I almost mirrored that feeling. The toilet was far more elaborate then anything I had ever used! Middle Earth had not evolved past just the basic hole in the ground or the garderobe. The woman stepped out of the room, leaving me to my own devices and I was left alone with my own thoughts for the first time since I had woken up. What exactly was I supposed to do with myself now? Amber had offered to look after me, but I couldn't be reliant on her hospitality forever.

Back in Erebor I knew what my function was in society. I had been the king's nephew, raised a royal and given a extensive education in how to use a forge. My intentions after the retaking of Erebor had been to focus my passions into learning a speciality, though I hadn't thought far enough to choose what area of smithing to focus myself into. A low grunt left me as I pulled down my brais. That future was gone now, and I wondered what if any of my past teachings would be of use here. Amber would know, she'd been raised in this world and had in essence become my newest tutor.

It took awhile to convince my bladder that it was indeed okay to let go, my brain far to aware that Amber stood outside and would hear ever sound. Relieving your bladder in front of your male companions was one thing, but for someone you didn't know to hear such a thing filled me with a sense of embarrassment that I had to hastily push aside.

I would be sharing quarters with this woman for some time, I would have to get used to her being privy to my bodily functions. Besides she had a father, and possibly even brothers ... this was something she was probably used to if all bathrooms in this world was like this one. Business seen too and the appropriate button pressed I pulled my brais back up, snapped the buckle of my belt back into place, and brushed what little clothing I wore down so that I at least looked a bit more presentable.

Amber hadn't taught me how to use the odd white cistern that stood near the toilet, but I recognised a tap when I saw one. It was the one part of internal plumbing that my forebears had managed to figure out all those years ago, though these taps had smooth flowing edges - nothing like the bulky style of our own taps. I turned one of the taps, reached for a white block that had to be soap and set about washing my hands. At least this world had some familiar things in it, I wouldn't be so lost that I would constantly be in culture shock, and that made me feel a bit more reassured.

I stepped out of the room and cast my eyes around to look for Amber. The woman was stood not far away, arms crossed and eyes distant as if deep in thought. She shook herself from her contemplation as if sensing my eyes on her, her head tilted to one side and one hand lowering to rest on her hip. Amber's eyes trailed my body as if she was sizing me up, a thoughtful sound parting her lips and nodding her head as if agreeing with her own internal arguments. If I had been Kili I would have asked if she had liked what she saw, would have teased what I now realised to be a rather attractive woman. 

But I was not Kili. He was all too happy to flirt with any woman that he set his eyes on, and had taken more then a few to bed with him. As for me, I was more of a romantic at heart - happy to wait to find my 'one'.

Kili had often teased me for such a belief, saying that there was nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun and sowing your wild oats. But, to me it felt like too much of a disservice to my future partner to sully myself in such a manner. There was nothing special about a one night stand I had told him, that it was soulless and meaningless. He had shrugged, saying that I was the one missing out and then had left me alone.

I wished I had at least tried a little harder with my brother, had tried to better guide him to make healthier choices in regards to his heart and soul. The sensation of a soft hand wrapped around my own, my heart still aching with grief as I looked down into the concerned eyes of the woman who's home I had been welcomed into. Once again I was reminded that the past was in the past, the chance to guide Kili in his life choices lost forever and I wondered what he would do without me now that I was gone.

"I can't even pretend to know how you are feeling right now. Do you want to talk about it?"

It felt like a lot to just suddenly throw on the woman, but I had no one else to talk to about my worries. No more brother, no more uncle, and no more clan. I nodded my head mutely in response as she guided me toward the guest bedroom once more, and then sat down beside me on the bed as I lowered my body down onto it. The carpeting once again became a familiar friend, a soothing landscape that held no science contraptions that I would have to think too hard about.

"I miss my clan ... especially my brother Kili. He was always such a royal pain in my side, always tormenting me about something or other, or pulling some stupid prank to annoy our uncle. Sometimes I would wish to escape him, to just be alone in my own company, but I never wanted to be parted from him for more then a day. Now that I know I can never see his face again. It pains me more then I could ever express. I wonder what he is doing right now? Probably tormenting my uncle and attempting to impress the ladies with stories of his prowess in war"

I chanced a look towards her, taking note of her all too pale face and the way that she circled her thumbs nervously around each other. Her eyes where also on the carpet, the very edges dampened with unshed tears, and a cold sensation of dread settled into my body as I realised that she knew something that I did not - something perhaps that I might not want to know but couldn't stop myself asking either.

"You know more about me and my story then you let on don't you."

Amber pushed her body up from the bed with a weary grunt and I watched her as she made her way to the far corner of the room. Each time I looked up to examine the room I would noticed another detail. This time I took note of the bookshelves that lined the far end of the room that where full of brightly coloured books. Amber traced her hand along one of the shelves, and then pulled out one of the books. I could tell that she wasn't excited at all about what she had to do, her movements slow and hesitant as she returned to sit on the bed beside me.

"I know everything. You see in this world the history of Middle Earth is little more then a much loved fantasy story written by J.R.R. Tolkien"

She placed the book in my lap, but kept one hand firmly on the top of it as I digested this new information. I wanted to be horrified at the thought that I was little more then some character in a book, to shout at her that I was real and that this book could not possibly exist. But, then my brain focused on the comforting hypothesis that maybe I hadn't been the only one brought to earth - perhaps this J.R.R Tolkien had also made a journey from middle earth.

"This book in particular focuses on the exploits of a certain company of Dwarves as they attempt to reclaim Erebor from the great dragon Smaug. Fili, I know you would have me tell you everything that happened, but I don't even know where in this story you've been pulled from ..."

Cold air filled my lungs as I firmed my resolve. This was something that I needed to do, a truth that I knew I would have to face sooner or later. I needed to know what had become of my kin-folk after my death, needed to know that they where at least doing okay and that my death had not been in vain. Another breath filled my lungs as I finally found my ability to respond to the waiting woman besides me.

"I ... Died"

Amber looked even paler then she had before, her eyes full of sadness and grief for what I had gone through. That grief deepened as she looked down at the book that rested in my lap, as if she wished it could tell me it's story for her. She breathed a sigh of resignation out through her nose and I admired her strength for it must not be easy for her to reveal what would become of my people.

"Fili and Kili, Sons of Dis died together, defending an injured Thorin as the armies of the orcs closed in around them. Thorin died of his wounds after the battle of the five armies ended in a victory for the free peoples. Dain Ironhand takes his place as the next rightful king of Erebor"

It didn't quite sound like the death that I had experienced at the hands of Azog. I tried to remember exactly what had happened, but I found that the further I got from that experience the less I remembered about it. I remembered falling. But was it from a tower or just to the ground? Had Kili been beside me? Or had he not? It disturbed me ever so slightly that I was already forgetting all of the details. I dropped my head into the palms of my hands, battling against a wave of grief as it washed over ever part of my being. I was dead and so where my kin ... the great line of Durin had been washed away in one single day.

But we where not all dead, I was still alive ... right? I might not be in middle earth any more but I was still one of Durin's folk.

"Thank You ... for telling me"

Amber nodded as I drifted back into my grief.

One day I would read the tale known as The Hobbit, but for now the book remained in my lap, tormenting me with it's dark knowledge of my death and the deaths of my brethren.


	4. Wandering Thoughts

# ~*~ Amber POV ~*~

My first day back at work after discovering Fili in my back garden had been nerve-wracking as all hell.

The entire time I had fretted about the fact that I had left the poor dwarf alone to fend for himself. I'd taught him how to use the 'magic cooking box' as he called it and had left a variety of foods in the 'cold food pantry'. I had informed Fili that the items were called a microwave and a fridge respectively, but as yet he was not consistently using the new vocabulary that I had taught him. It was not something that I felt like I needed to rush. This was essentially a new language that he was learning, and it might take a few months for it to stick, which was fine as we had all the time in the world for him to learn.

Jillian had noticed that something was up with me. Had asked more than a few times if I was okay, and if I needed another day off to recover from my migraine. I'd assured my boss I was fine, and that I was only distracted because I was trying out a new slow cooker. That I was just hoping that my meal would turn out okay. I could tell she didn't believe me, but the woman had let the matter be, knowing that I would tell her what was up, eventually. I didn't know if I would ever tell her about Fili, for I didn't know what the dwarf planned to do once he has settled into his unknown world.

The end of my shift couldn't come quick enough, my anxiousness urging me to go straight home now that my shift was over, but I could not go home just yet. There was a shopping trip I needed to do now that I was free to do what I wanted. The male had been wearing the same clothes for two days now, and I knew that must have be uncomfortable for him. I had a stash of men's clothes in my closet, a precaution for the odd times my brother would stay over. However, my brother was stick thin, and none of his clothes would fit the broader body of my new guest.

The faint sound of the latest number one song drifted from a nearby tannoy as I walked the shelves of the men's department. I'd walked into the first clothing shop I'd laid eyes on out of ease rather than familiarity. As I pulled a pair of jogging pants from the display rack, I wished I'd asked my brother to recommend me a good menswear shop under the guise I was getting him a birthday present. I didn't want my brother thinking I had a male guest! He'd tease me endlessly and want all the saucy details!

My nose furrowed as I lifted the jogging pants in front of me for inspection. I didn't know what size Fili was in the waist, but he looked to be on the larger size. The joggers would be an easy option, since then Fili could use the cord to tie them tighter if he needed to do so. It was better than getting a pair of bootleg jeans, finding they didn't fit and having him wait another day in dirty clothing. Deciding that it was better to err on the size of caution, I picked out a few pairs in a large sizing. I didn't think Fili was slim enough to be a medium like my brother, but I also didn't think it was large enough for an extra large.

The joggers where laid over my arms as I moved toward the shirts. For a moment I was tempted to purchase some tight fitting tank tops for Fili, a blush forming on my cheeks at the idea of being able to admire his muscular body through the fabric. I knew I shouldn't be thinking of Fili in such a way, that I was a grown ass woman and able to control my thoughts better than I was. I had to remind myself repeatedly that he was my guest, and yet I fawned over him like a hormonal teenager, anyway!.

I still didn't know what was wrong with me, it had been years since I had been attracted to anyone - and I'd never been as 'affected' by a man as I was now. I shook my head and moved to examine the t-shirts instead, selecting a deeper green color that I felt would compliment his complexion. Again I wasn't sure on the size, so a larger size would be a good option given how broad his shoulders were, plus it had the added benefit of 'masking' his muscular body from my wandering eyes.

Getting undergarments for the male was my next task. I did not know if he would prefer something looser like boxers or a tighter, more supportive style like briefs. Examining the images of the half-dressed men on the packaging didn't help matters either! My mind was already wandering as it was, and I didn't need the imagery of Fili standing saucily in a doorway in just his undergarments in my head! A shaking hand brushed through my hair, the sensation of every so greasy locks reminding me I needed a shower later today … preferably a cold one! Lord knows I would need it at this rate.

"Fuck sake Amber, get it together,"

I grabbed the nearest packet of boxers, prayed to god they would be big enough and rushed over to the till. I just wanted out to get out of the shop before my mind wandered any more! The poor cashier must have thought me rather rude, getting nothing but low grunts out of me as she chatted away, and I all but ran out of there the moment that the lady handed me the shopping bag once my payment had processed. The cool air that washed over my face as I left the building was relieving, taking some of my anxiety with it and cooling the heat of the blush that yet lingered on my face.

The subsequent bus journey from the shops felt even longer than my work shift and shopping trip combined. Normally I enjoyed the ability to unwind and people watch during the journey, today I just could not sit still, and nor could I stop myself tutting every time someone pinged the button to be let off. I had to remind myself that Fili would be okay for ten more minutes, that he'd managed to survive perfectly well without me, but that didn't stop me worrying about him.

I'd barely known him a week and already he'd wormed his way into my life just enough that I worried for him!. He was just too charming for his own damned good, and that body … I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was getting to the point if I was developing quite the crush on the unsuspecting dwarf. I didn't know if feeling that way was entirely appropriate, and it still felt too close to my last failed relationship for me to pursue anyone.

'It's been two years Amber, it's been plenty long enough,'

My internal voice drew a grunt of reluctant acceptance. Yes, it had been two years, but Troy had torn my heart apart so badly that it still felt far too fresh some days. I knew I would have to move on eventually, that I didn't have to let one rotten apple ruin my dating experience, but doing something about that was a different matter entirely. For now, I would just admire my guest from afar and enjoy what my best friend Trish called a bit of 'window shopping'.

It seemed like an age until my stop came up, my arm lifting to activate the bell and let the driver know I wanted to get off. I gave a cheery thank you to the bright-faced young man in the driver's seat and stepped off onto the well-maintained sidewalk. I walked along the line of spacious single-story houses, admiring the neatly trimmed bushes and giving a cheery wave to the elderly lady that lived next door. Beryl didn't unusually come out this time of the day, and she didn't water her plants so late in the evening - reserving that task for the morning.

The white-haired lady had a broad smile on her face, her eyes focused on something in my backyard and somehow getting more of the water over her patio than the plants. Panic rose in my throat as I pushed open the gate that lead into the backyard, fully expecting to see that Fili had caused some kind of issue, and mentally making a plan on how to deal with whatever that problem was.

I was not entirely prepared for what I saw in the garden, however.

The sight of a topless Fili using my garden as his personal gym was not one I would soon forget. Fili had pulled my garden bench away from the wall and was using the item of furniture for inclined push ups. His skin glistened in the evening sunlight, a sure sign of just how hard the male was pushing himself in his workout. No wonder Beryl was out watering her flowers! If I was an elderly lady and saw a good-looking man working out in my neighbour's yard, I'd be watering the flowers too. Shaking my head, I approached the male with a low coughing sound to let him know I was there.

"Evening Beryl, how are your Begonias?"

Beryl's body jolted at the realisation that I had caught her staring. It was almost comical watching her drop the watering hose, the spray of water causing the item to writhe around frantically on the lawn whilst the older lady tried to look innocent of all charges.

"Poor souls are dry as a bone, had to give them another watering,"

I watched as her eyes trailed back to Fili, who was towelling himself down using one of my dish cloths. THE NERVE! Then again, it was my fault. I should have known he might want to keep physically fit and showed him where I kept my gym towelettes before I left. He'd just grabbed the first towel he had found. I 'tsk'ed as I crossed my arms, turning my attention fully back to my elderly neighbour who had that dreamy look on her face again.

"Your hose, Beryl. The poor Begonias will only get dryer if you insist in eyeing up my guest,"

She waved her hand in the air as if that didn't matter anymore. The ruse was up, so why keep pretending she was watering the flowers?. I watched as the older woman threw Fili a wink, not even bothered that I was watching and that the poor dwarf looked just a little uncomfortable. The guy was not used to women flirting with him, especially older women, and it again reminded me of just how much I needed to teach him about my culture. Not that I should have to teach him how to protect himself from the advances of horny older women, but it was best that I prepared him for the next time Beryl tried to flirt with him from over the fence.

"Guest, huh? It's good to see you having a nice young man over again. Remember love, use protection and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Fili looked confused, and I didn't blame him. They probably did not understand family planning back in middle earth, so the word 'protection' just went right over his head. His head tilted slightly, his face taking on a slightly flushed look as he managed to put together the meaning of her words. The dwarf looked kind of cute when he blushed, though I wished it was me making him blush and not my elderly neighbour who was getting herself way too involved in my love life right now.

"He's not that kind of guest, Beryl! He needed a place to crash after his brother kicked him out of the apartment, and I offered him the use of my guest bedroom,"

More lies, I hated that I had to lie, but I needed to tell her something other than 'oh, he just appeared in my backyard'. It was much more believable if I told her he'd had a family breakup and as a concerned friend I'd offered him the use of my spare room. I made my way toward the open patio doors, motioning for Fili to follow me, and stepped into the cool living room beyond. Everything was pretty much as I left it, and I felt relieved that I could safely leave Fili on his own.

"I'm so sorry about her Fili. Beryl is a lovely lady, but ever since her husband passed away she's become over bearing - likes to involve herself in my business a bit too much,"

Fili dropped onto my sofa, stretching out his legs and rubbing his face with the tea towel as if to hide his second-hand embarrassment. I could hear him muttering to himself in Khazdul, a language of harsh syllables and rumbling vowels that brought to mind that group of re-enactment Vikings that had visited my high school so many years ago. Once he'd vented for two minutes, he looked back up to me, his face flushed once more, eyes moving to the backyard and then back to me as if debating vocalizing what was on his mind. In the movies he'd had so much confidence, but dying and coming to this world had stripped more than just his family from him.

His expression shifted as I watched. One moment it was that embarrassed and unsure look that he'd worn not seconds before, but then it shifted to something that I could only describe as jealousy. The confidence dripping into his body as the emotion took over his body, and his braids shifting the moment that his lips parted to speak.

"What does she mean … that it's good for you to have a man over again? How many men have you brought to your home to have her think of you thus?"

I lowered the shopping bag and crossed my arms. He had no right to ask me such a personal question, especially one that made it out as if I slept around. Why couldn't have Beryl just keep to her damned self and leave matters well enough alone? It was nice that she was looking out for me, seemingly happy at the idea that I was moving on in the world of love when that was far from the truth. My eyes drifted from his, down to his collarbone and following the line of blonde hair that made its home on his chest, and then back up again as I realised what I was doing. I was supposed to be angry, supposed to be telling him to kind his own business, and yet here I was eyeing him up again.

"One … and even then that was two years ago … it didn't end well."

The jealousy dropped from his expression as he noted my discomfort, his body lifting from the cushions of the sofa so he was leaned over his knees. Even with his face shrouded by the golden lengths of his hair I could still see his laden eyes and pale features. Fili looked like a child that had just realised just how appalling his behaviour had been and was now not sure how to deal with the fallout from that disgrace. I didn't exactly know what had caused the jealousy. We were acquaintances, so why should the thought of me 'being' with anyone else bother him so much? Perhaps he didn't even know, and that was why he now looked so lost - as if he'd not expected this at all. Wanting to just change the topic, I lowered down to grab the bag of shopping and handed it toward him.

"I brought some clothes on the way back from work. Try them and let me know how they fit so I can exchange them if need be,"

Fili reached over for the bag, carefully taking it from me and retreating to the guest bedroom leaving me in the awkwardly silent living-room wishing for a hole to fall into and perhaps for the ability to start the day over again so I could have warned him of Beryl and avoided the horrible fallout that her comments had left me with.


	5. New Clothes and revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind reviews.
> 
> I learned that you can reply to reviews, so all personal replies have been moved to the comment section.

# ~*~ Fili POV ~*~

I stared down at the pile of unfamiliar clothes, but I wasn't actively looking at them - too caught up in my own entangled emotions. The sensation of my rough fingers rubbing over my face did little to calm me as I let out a few snarled comments of Khazdul. What in the name of Mahal was wrong with me? Amber was my host, my caregiver in a world that still felt like a nightmare more times than not - yet I could not deny I felt attracted to her despite knowing I should not be. I wanted to let out a hearty laugh with my brother, to write it all off as a crush born out of desperation, to feel some kind of normality in a situation far from normal.

Then her elderly neighbor had suggested that Amber had allowed other men into her house and the world as I knew it once again flipped on its head.

It was as if I had been struck by lightning. One moment I had been calm despite my embarrassment, and then the next jealousy had reared its ugly head. It should not have mattered to me she'd seen other men, after all she'd had a life before I had been dropped unceremoniously into it. But it mattered! I didn't want for her to have seen other men, or to even invite other men to her home - the only man she ever needed in her life was me. I was the only one that could make her laugh, the only one that could make her smile, and the only one that could make her complete.

"Mahal preserve me ... she's my one."

It was a realisation I should have made sooner given the instant attraction I had felt to her. It was unlike me to feel like that toward any woman. Sure I could admit that a lady was attractive, but what I had felt was so far removed from that and it had only grown each day that I had been with Amber. I didn't know entirely what to do with this discovery either. She knew nothing about me, yet alone anything about my culture. This wasn't something I could throw on her and expect for her to accept it with a smile - especially as it sounded like a previous lover had broken her heart.

My hands reached down, wrapping around the slick surface of a parcel inside the pile of clothing. Amber had called the 'shiny' material plastic when I had asked about it a day prior, and I still didn't entirely know if I could trust the stuff - for it had an awful stench. Despite assurances it was fine, I still felt as if something that smelt like this wasn't entirely healthy to be used by humans. I frowned as I rubbed my thumbs over it, the hot sensation returning to my face as I looked at the image that laid just underneath the plastic.

I wasn't unfamiliar with what a man looked like, had seen my kinsmen naked on more than one occasion, but the human male that was portrayed on the packaging looked far removed from anything I had ever seen. I wondered if this was the benchmark that all human men compared themselves to here - leanly muscled, handsome features and not a lick of hair to be seen on their bodies. Was this the standard of masculinity that Amber was attracted to? I had to shake my head in denial of the idea. She had seen me in all my topless glory and had turned such an attractive shade of red that I had felt most pleased with myself for eliciting such a response from her - she most definitely did not disprove of what she saw.

I pulled apart the packaging to reveal that the undergarments within matched what the model had been wearing in the picture. The material looked comfortable enough, and so finely woven that it made me wonder how it had been managed for middle earth had yet to master such fine weaving. I kicked off what remained of my clothing, a feeling of grief coming over me as I realised I probably could never wear the garb of my people again. Finding my One had been something I had always wanted, but at the expense of dying and leaving my people? The cost felt far too great. I folded my clothing with reverence. While I might never wear it again, I still wanted to preserve them as a reminder of what I once had.

A home and a Family.

What were the rest of the company doing now? Amber had revealed nothing about the future of my people beyond that of my brother and uncle, and I hadn't asked either. As I pulled the undergarments onto my body, I realised that I didn't want to know, not right now anyway. Learning of the deaths of my family members had come as a shock, and I was still processing that information. My host had assured me I could take all the time I needed to come to terms with that, that she would be ready to tell me more when I asked, and I appreciated her understanding of my situation.

With the undergarments in place, I mused on the fact that they fit rather well, and I wondered how Amber had made such an accurate guess on what size I needed. The logical part of my brain told me she must have used my outer garments as a guide, whilst the part of my brain ruled by ego and hormones reveled in the idea that she had been staring at me. It was that later part of my brain that toyed with the idea of parading out into the livingroom wearing nothing more than said undergarments just to see what kind of response I got from the woman, but it was soon reigned in by my common sense that told me that wasn't a great idea.

I would have to be more respectful than that if I wanted to gain the affections of my One.

My hands reached over for the trousers next, casually pulling them up over my legs and marvelling at the fact that they were both warm and light at the same time. The fitting again was very well estimated by Amber, for the clothing was again neither too tight nor too loose. It helped that this particular style of trouser that she brought had a drawstring in the waist which allowed me to adjust the fitting if need be. I had to hand it to modern humanity. They certainly knew how to make stuff that felt nice against bare skin, for the trousers were also made of a smooth somewhat soft fabric that was much more comfortable than the coarse cotton of my brais.

Not wanting to be left with my own thoughts for much longer, I grabbed one of the t-shirts and pulled it over my head. It surprised me to find out that unlike the other items of clothing that Amber had picked up; the shirt did not fit - the fabric hanging loosely over my torso. It wasn't a bad fit per se, for it felt comfortable enough on my body, but it was just big enough to make me feel like I was wearing one of my uncle's shirts. Thorin had always been broader in the chest than me - a result of a lifetime of smithing. I would just have to mention it to her, and maybe she could return to the market another day for a better fitting shirt.

Large hands brushed over the unfamiliar garb now that I was fully dressed. I wondered what my kin would have said if they could see me now? They probably would have joked that I looked like a commoner and teased me relentlessly. Yet, despite how I looked in the outfit, I was grateful that my host took the time to get me something to wear. I didn't know what the cost of clothing was like in this world, and having to get me an entire wardrobe must not have been kind on her wallet. My eyes wandered to my travel gear that was still draped over a chair in the far corner, wondering about how I would repay her and then coming up with an idea.

I hastily retrieved the item in question from the inner pocket of my jacket and wrapped into the palm of my hand with my fingers as I returned to the livingroom.

Amber was sat on her sofa waiting for me as I walked in, her body slumped into the chair and her hands wrapped around a brown bottle. The words on the label still made little sense to me given that I had yet to learn what passed as the common written language of this world, but I didn't need to read to know she was drinking a fruity beverage given the red and black berries printed on the label. As I walked in, she turned her head and once again her cheeks reddened in the same attractive manner as earlier, her eyes giving my body a swift once over and settling on my chest.

"Well? How did it go? Comfortable enough?"

My fingers wrapped into the hem of the shirt and gave it a pull, a way to show my frustrations at just how big the whole thing was. As I tightened the fabric to make it more form fitting the blush on her face deepened and I suddenly realised why she'd gotten me a shift so loose. She hadn't wanted to get me a tighter top because the thought of me being in anything tighter made her uncomfortable. I wasn't knowledgeable enough with women to know if this was a good or a bad thing. Was she so attracted to me she just could not handle the thought of seeing the shape of my body under the fabric, or was she so repulsed by me she had to cover it all up to hide it from her eyes?

"Oh yes, it's all very comfortable - but the shirt is a little loose. I would prefer it a little tighter."

I wondered what I could do to gauge what exactly she felt. If she had been a dam, I would not have had to wonder for they would have recognised me as their one, as much as I recognised them. Amber was a human. What was Mahal thinking? Forging me from the same rock as a human? This was unheard of. Dwarves had never been matched outside their kin, let along outside their timeline. Reading her emotions was like trying to predict the changing weather. That blush could just as easily be an embarrassment as it could be attraction. My fingers unwrapped to reveal the small ingot of gold that I had pulled out of the pocket of my outer jerkin.

"This should help cover the bills, I know it's not much, but it is all I have to repay your kindness."

Amber lowered her drink to the table, pushing herself wearily from the table, and letting out a slight groan as her weight was put back onto her no doubt aching feet. She took two steps towards me, eyes focused on the gold in complete shock, and I wondered if gold was a rarity in this world. Her shaking fingers wrapped around my own, sending a jolt through my body as it reacted to even the simplest of touches from my own, and I watched as her eyes fluttered slightly as if surprised by something. Maybe she had felt it too? No, I was reading way too much into this! This was impossible. All of it was! My brain momentarily flipped back into that harsh denial that this was just the fevered dream of a man dying in the middle of a battlefield - that I didn't deserve another chance at life, let alone to be given a one by my maker.

"Keep it. You don't have to repay me."

Her eyes caught mine, those blue depths holding a dark intensity - like a storm brewing out over the thrashing waves of a sparkling sea. I was barely aware of her fingers closing my own around the golden ingot, for I was entirely focused by those orbs of hers and did not dare look away or else I would break the spell. Here I would be happy to remain captivated by her beauty and yet I desperately wished I was back in middle earth. Back in the lands of my forebears I would have had something to offer a prospective partner - I had a home, a trade and enough money in my coffers to give them whatever their heart desired.

What did I have here? Nothing.

"I insist. A prince of Erebor always repays their debts,"

My title had no meaning here. She was the only one that knew me to be of royal heritage. Outside the four walls of her home, I was just another lowly man of no consequence. Yet I still used that title, it was that crutch of past normality that I still hung desperately onto - as if giving up that title would forever sever whatever ties I had to a life that still felt close enough that I could step back into it. I'd only been dead a week.

I felt as if I had already forgotten way too many things, lost grip of who I had been in that past life, and I felt some amount of terror at the thought in a years' time I might have forgotten everything about my past life. Amber to her credit gave me a respectful tip of her head, and I made a mental note to ask her for paper and parchment later - so I might make a note of my memories before I forgot them.

Yes, she had that book about my life, but that would never be the same. It was a story about me told by someone that had never known me. I needed to write a story about my own memories from my perspective, for I didn't think the book went into enough detail for me to remember everything - it looked far too thin for that. Broken from the spell of her eyes, my own dropped to look down at her smaller hand wrapped around my own, my other hand instinctively covering it so that her hand was cupped between my much larger appendages.

"If you insist, then you can repay me by keeping the house clean. I assume a prince knows how to do chores?"

Her voice was a whisper. Layered in husky tones and a sense of longing. I dared not look up at her, for if I did I knew I would lose any desire to 'take things slow'. A deep laugh bubbled from within me at her teasing words, and I gave a shake of the head that the mere suggestion I might not know how to do chores.

"I have been fully house trained. My mother was very insistent that I know how to pull my weight,"

Oh yes, mother had been very insistent that I knew how to pull my weight in the home. She had told me time and time again that a good husband supported their wives in every manner - and included helping them with the housework. Amber was not my wife, not by any stretch of the imagination, but that didn't mean I was going to allow myself to be that lazy house guest either. If she wanted me to repay my debt by washing the dishes or cooking something for us both then I was happy to do so. It was better than loitering around the house not knowing what to do with myself while waiting for her to get back from work.

"It's a deal then,"

Her other hand joined the other, firm and yet gently slapping around my other hand so she could shake my own in affirmation that we had made the deal.


	6. Perchance to Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Inspiration / I won't say I'm in Love - Hercules
> 
> :: Chapter Notes ::
> 
> * I'm using inspiration for dreams from another fanfiction on FF.Net, and have full permission from the Author Jenny-Wren28 to incorporate it into my work
> 
> * A Neo-Khazdul translator would be too expensive to use, so I'm going with a head cannon that Khazdul is similar to Old Norse / Icelandic (it's nearest modern equivalent.)
> 
> :: Translations:: 
> 
> Minn einn - My One

# ~*~ Amber POV ~*~

**Who d'you think you're kidding  
He's the earth and heaven to you  
Try to keep it hidden,  
Honey, we can see right through you  
Girl, you can't conceal it  
We know how you're feeling  
Who you thinking of**

_Dark shadows flickered within an unfamiliar room, the warm amber light of a flickering oil lantern casting a welcoming light within it. The soft sound of a hammer tap-taping on metal rung like a gentle melody - bringing with it a warmth to my heart despite the foreign dream I found myself in. The sensation of hard rock made itself known to me as I traced my fingers along the wall, taking in the craftsmanship of the one whom had long ago hewn the chamber from the mountain itself._

_How I knew I was in a mountain I didn't know. Normally when I dreamed, I dreamed of recognizable places that I spent most of my time in. This place was not a place I had been to in my lifetime, it felt ancient and mysterious, and yet somehow I knew exactly where I was. I felt somehow at home and at ease in this odd place as I continued to explore, soon finding myself enraptured by a set of intricate runes carved into a heavy tapestry that hung to my right. The fabric a bright blaze of colors in the otherwise dark room. The tat-tapping continued behind me, occasionally ringing a high note that reminded me of birdsong that accompanied the British sunrise. Other times it was a deep baritone, a rich deep sound that grounded my soul and caused my heart to ache all at the same time._

_Mother had once been part of a bell ringing choir - the lower tones reminded me of the large bell she'd often practiced with when I was a small child._

_I turned toward the sound, my eyes travelling to rest on the figure hunched over a meticulously organised work bench. Golden hair gleamed in the oil's light, the light catching on distinctive metal claps that held together the braids that kept his hair off his face. People seldom featured in my dreams, and even rarer was it to find someone that I still yet barely knew within one. My eyes roamed down from the familiar back of Fili's head to instead take in the clothing that he wore._

_A simple white cotton shirt clung to his upper torso, attracted by the heavy sheen of sweat that no doubt clung to his skin thanks to his work. His large hands worked with a dexterity that was surprising, but not unexpected all at the same time. I did not know the names of the tools he used, however I recognised them to be things that a smithy might use in their trade - just scaled down for use on more intricate items of jewellery._

_A low grunt left the dwarf as he raised the sheet of metal he was currently working on, tilting it slightly to examine its surface in the dull light and seeming to finally take note that I was there. The surprise on his face was easy to read, as if he'd not expected me to be there at all - his lips opening to say something even as the world I had found myself in faded into obscurity._

My eyes jolted open, focusing on the ceiling high above as I tried to reorient my hazy mind back into some form of reality - the dream still lingering at the very edges of my memory. It had been so very vivid, so stupidly real. I knew my dreams could be vivid, but I didn't normally recall them quite as well as I did this one. I ran a hand through my hair as I rolled over, eyes zeroing in on the glowing digits of the alarm clock that sat on my bedside table and letting out a tormented groan.

**4.14am**

Why exactly was I dreaming about Fili, anyway? I often spent my waking hours in hazy daydreams about the handsome male, but now he had to torment me in my sleep too? A flustered sound escaped my parted lips, pulling the pillow over my head to cut out the growing dawn light that seeped in through my curtains. It was too early to get up, too early to yet face the day, but despite my best efforts I could not go back to sleep.

I knew in my heart what was going on, had already decided a few days ago that I had developed a crush on Fili. It was only natural that I would have dreams that involved him, but the fact it was happening so fast scared me. Falling in love with Troy hadn't been like this at all. It had been slow, a growing attraction that had blossomed over many months. This time around it had taken less than a week for my heart to decide exactly what it wanted, leaving my brain scrambling behind yelling that this was all wrong! Love at first sight was a thing delegated to children's stories. This was real life, and I had to keep reminding myself that Fili could step out of my life at any point that he wanted to.

Troy had been all too happy to do such a thing, leaving me to piece together the parts of my broken heart as he jaunted into the sunset with the woman he'd been cheating on me with. I wasn't about to go through all that again. Yet despite my best efforts, here I was, unable to guard my heart from him and damn well old enough that I should know better by now.

My palms pressed against the bed as I pushed myself up from the bed, knowing that it was pointless lying around when I couldn't sleep. The cool morning air brushed against my bare skin. Normally I wouldn't think twice about walking through my house naked, but I didn't think it was appropriate now I had a male guest in the house. I reached over for the silk dressing gown that hung over the back of my door and slipped it over my body as I stepped out into the hallway with a languid yawn. I wasn't a morning person, getting up before ten in the morning was an absolute travesty! My brain felt groggy, a sticky mess that I knew wouldn't be erased until I had brewed up the strongest coffee grinds that I owned.

The distinct smell of bacon reached my nose as I slowly made my way to the kitchen, a scent that had me questioning my sanity because the kitchen shouldn't be smelling of bacon. I blinked and rounded the corner of the hallway and slipping through the part open doorway that lead into my kitchen. I had to blink a few times and wondered if I really was awake because the sight that met my eyes was not one I expected to see at this time of the morning.

Fili stood in front of the stove, one hand adjusting the position of a frying pan while the other laid another slice of bacon onto the hot metal surface. The dwarf didn't seem the least bit bothered by the hot spitting oil that contacted the bare skin of his torso, leaving me wondering if dwarves where naturally immune to 'heat' or if this was just the by-product of working the forges. I didn't focus on that question too long, my distracted eyes traveling down his body to the pair of sleeping slacks that hung all too low on his hips ... I didn't mind that I got to admire his physic, but I did mind because it only made me want him more.

"Can't sleep either?"

Somehow I strung together a coherent sentence, shaking my head just enough to remind myself to once again stop gawking at my guest. Why did he have to be topless again? The corners of his lips flicked slightly upward, as if amused that I had guessed somewhat close to the truth, and he turned his head toward me to fix me with a look that I'd not seen on his face before - it was a look of someone that had learned something, but didn't entirely know how to process the information. There was a confusion to his features, and a deep longing in his eyes. The part smile still lingered on his lips, an attempt to hide his genuine feelings behind the mask he'd been wearing the last few days.

"No. How do you like your eggs?"

I debated asking him what was wrong as I pondered his question. Clearly something was bothering him. A few days back I would have thought it was just him processing his rebirth in a new world, but now I wondered if this was something entirely different. Would he even tell me what was wrong if I asked? He seemed a prideful person who wasn't used to asking for help with mental issues he was having. I adjusted the dressing gown slightly as I finally stepped out of the doorway and into the kitchen proper, closing my eyes for a moment as I approached the Fili and stepped within his personal space to reach over to flip on the extractor fan.

"Sunny side up if you would be so kind,"

Being this close to him was intoxicating. He smelt earthy ... as if he'd been in a pine forest after a summer storm. The faintest edges of citrus and spice lingered just at the edges, barely perceivable but there never the less. I might well be just over a step away from him but I felt all too close, my overactive mind imagining that I could feel the warmth of his body against my own, and I somehow controlled the desire to step away from him. Fili knew the basics of how to use a stove, but that didn't mean I felt comfortable with him using it on his own - this was still fairly new technology to him. I felt, more than saw, the nod of his head at my request and watched as he shifted the cooked rashers of bacon aside to a plate that sat on the counter beside the stove.

"Is something bothering you, Fili? Besides the obvious that is?"

Fili let out a low grunt, more a snort than anything else, and cracked an egg into the still warm pan. I chanced a look up at him, this close up I could see the faintest hints of laughter lines at the corners of his eyes. This was a man that laughed heartily and often, though he'd not had much reason to laugh of late. What did his laugh sound like? I knew what the actor that played him in the movies sounded like, but the more I interacted with the real Fili, the less in common he seemed to have with the person who portrayed him. Fili's voice was lower and richer in real life, with a distinct accent that I hoped would never fade. A flurry of butterflies erupted in my stomach as I tried to imagine the sound of him laughing, and I made it my quest to hear it one day.

His eyes had a faraway look as he watched the eggs cooking in the pan, as if he too was debating telling me something. There was a fearful and concerned twitch of his lips, as if he were biting at the insides of his mouth anxiously. His eyes closed for a fraction of a moment while he fought that internal battle inside before fluttering open to once again focus on the eggs.

"Minn einn ... that's what's bothering me. It's sacred ... you're not dwarf, I don't even know if you would understand, let alone if I should even tell you about it,"

I had heard him speaking in Khazdul a few times, but the words he had just spoken were new to me. Reaching over, I carefully took the spatula from his fingers before the eggs burnt, ignoring the sensation of pure delight that travelled down my spine at even that small amount of physical contact. Tolkien's books had gone into little depth about the dwarven belief system, only mentioning that they were very protective of their culture, and I got the feeling there was a rich religious system just waiting to be explored. But I also knew it probably made him more than a little uncomfortable to talk about it with me.

"Whatever it is, does it cause you any distress?"

Fili tilted his head from one side to the other, a gesture I recognised to mean that it caused distress, but also at the same time it didn't.

"It's not a bother. I will be okay if that will put your mind at rest,"

I wasn't entirely sure if it put my mind at rest. I knew that he might never feel one hundred percent comfortable in this world, but at the very least I could help lessen his distress enough that he felt like he could survive here. A low unbidden 'tsk' left my lips as I tried fishing the egg out of the pan and ended up splitting the yolk before I even got it onto the waiting plate. I never had got a perfectly intact egg, I always seemed to split the yolk in the frying process. Oh well, at least it was still edible, and it hadn't made too much of a mess.

"As long as you are okay. I can't claim to understand what it is like to have a cultural belief that sacred that you can't share it. But if it makes you uncomfortable, then you don't have to tell me any more than you are happy to share."

As I talked, I shifted from my spot, still overly aware of just how close he was, and gave a cheeky bop of my hip against his side

"Skootch over, I need to get into the fridge,"

The look on his face was priceless, and I couldn't help but muse he was rather cute when he blushed. The reddening of his face under his beard was just delightful and judging by the way it travelled upward I was pretty sure the tips of his ears were red too - such a shame that his thick hair hid them from view. I gave him a cheeky wink, unable to stop the shameless flirting now that I had started, and retrieved a pack of sausages from the fridge. I had already started the pack prior, so it was easy to transfer them out of the packet and into the frying pan.

I should have started them before the eggs, but I figured that if Fili was hungry, then he could just eat what was already on the plate while he waited for the sausages to cook. The one thing I had learned over the past week was that dwarves ate a lot, not as much as the legendary hobbits, but still more than I was used to a regular human eating. My fridge was getting more than a little on the empty side, and I'd have to do some grocery shopping before long - which my wallet would not be happy about. I wasn't struggling money wise by any stretch of the imagination, I just used to being a single person household and suddenly having another person to provide for meant some bills where now bigger than they used to be.

"Do you have to work today?"

The warmth that I felt against my left side told me that Fili had stepped close to me once again. It felt all too natural to have him stood by my side as we did domestic chores, almost as if he was meant to be there - I didn't know how else to describe it. I'd never been bothered by living alone, having always enjoyed the space and freedoms it afforded me, but now that Fili was here. It was as if he had filled a gap I didn't know had existed. I shook my head, trying to keep the smile from my lips and entirely failing.

"No, no work today. Which means we can continue your work in learning how to read common if you like?"

"I would like that very much,"

He'd answered in an instant, and I was very pleased that he was eager to continue his lessons. Fili was a diligent student, and I was sure that by the time Christmas rolled around in a few months' time, he'd be fluent enough to read common without my help. I prodded at the sausages, rolling them as I did so to brown the other sides of them as I pondered on what life would look like for him if I ever taught him enough about the world to work a job - reading common was just the first step. Children went to school for years to learn enough to thrive in the job market - Fili had only just started to learn such skills.

Then a thought struck me, a crazy thought born of desperation and sheer genius - Fili already HAD life skills, I just needed to make them relevant in the modern era. Blacksmithing was a dying trade, so I didn't think there would be any in the local area that needed an apprentice, but just about anyone could make an Etsy account and be their own boss these days.

What if I took out a loan and purchased the tools and materials to start his own business with? The grin only widened on my face as the plan blossomed in my mind.

My friends would have told me I was being way too generous towards a stranger. But Fili wasn't a stranger to me anymore. I would do just about anything for people that I loved

Fuck

That wasn't just a simple crush, not anymore - I loved him. So much for not developing feelings for him, outstanding job Amber! A+, you get a gold star!

**No chance no way I won't say it, no no  
(Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love)  
This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love  
(We'll do it until you admit you're in love)  
Your way off base I won't say it  
Get off my case I won't say it  
(Girl don't be proud it's okay you're in love)  
At least out loud I won't say I'm in love**  



	7. Revealed feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter this work is now up to date with it's FF.Net partner. 
> 
> Thank you for your continued support.
> 
> :: Translations :: 
> 
> Minn einn - My one

# Fili POV

The plastic pen felt unfamiliar beneath my fingers, unforgiving and ungainly as I tried to form the letters on the worksheet that Amber had printed out for me that morning. I was used to writing with a quill that would flex with each movement of my large fingers, something that worked with me rather than against me. It had barely been half an hour using the plastic pen, but my fingers already ached from trying to find a comfortable angle to hold the object in.

It didn't help that the common runes of this world were very 'flowy', more akin to elvish than the harsh angles of Dwarven Runes that I was more familiar with. The muscles in my wrist felt sore, and every so often I had to stop to shake life back into my increasingly dead fingers. I let out a frustrated sound, dropping the pen to the paper and rubbing my aching fingers against each other to ward off the discomfort that had settled in my knuckles.

I felt as if I was a failure, that I should have made more progress by now given that this was my fourth day of practicing with Amber.

Was I not the 'smarter' brother whom always grasped new concepts months before Kili ever did? Amber to her credit was a patient and understanding teacher, always happy to offer kind words of encouragement and there was no hint at all that she was disappointed in my progress. With my hands still covering my eyes I felt more than saw her move from her seated position on the coach beside me - the subtle differences of warmth and lighting as her body lifted every so slightly upright and then cautiously sliding beside me as if uncertain that she should even get as close to me as she currently was.

The sensation of her body pressing against my own was intoxicating, pulling my thoughts far away from the paper that I should have been focusing on. She was warm, soft and inviting. It took all my mental strength to not relax fully in against her side. Being in the same room as my one was bad enough, but being this close to her? Mahal preserve! I didn't think I'd get any work done at all. I watched with growing curiosity as she lifted the pen from the table and slipped it back into my fingers. The cool unforgiving surface of the plastic pen became my anchor, a focus point for my poor brain to latch onto beyond the sensation of her too close form.

"Here, hold the pen like this. Holding the pen as you where is a recipe for cramps,"

I lost the inadequate focus on the pen the moment she leaned in toward me more. Her soft hand cupping my own, and her fingers shifting to guide mine to a more comfortable position on the pen. I could almost feel the smile on her lips, and the all too seductive exhale of breath against my ear, and I was once again distracted from the task at hand. The sudden realisation that she might very well be toying with me crossed my thoughts. Amber had been a lot more flirtatious with me the last few days, come to think of it. She would often wink at me, throw out barely veiled innuendos, and nudge her hip against mine teasingly whenever I cooked.

To say I'd been oblivious to most of it would be the understatement of the century.

Part of me still didn't even know how to bridge the gap and flirt with her in return. Mahal knows I wanted to court her, but she didn't even know what she was getting herself into. I wasn't human like her - she could give her heart to a dozen people in her lifetime, but I would only ever bind myself to one. There was a recognition that I should tell her about the concept of ones, tell her of the deeply spiritual connection I shared with her, but every time I got close to sharing that with her I backed out like the coward I was. I didn't want her feeling like she had to love me or bind herself to me because of the way I felt. I respected her too much to do that.

Then the dreams had started, and all hope of caution had flown with them.

She likely thought that it was just another dream that humans where want to have when she had first found her way into my sleeping thoughts. However, now that the dreams had started, she would find her way into them more often and was bound to ask questions at some point. Maybe it was best to get it over and done with now - rip the band aid off the wound, as Amber liked to say when she had to do things she didn't enjoy doing. I gripped the pen beneath my fingers, taking a deep breath as I once again tried to summon the courage to let my feelings for her known.

"Remember the other day ... when you asked if something was bothering me?"

The warmth of her body against my own vanished as she shifted backwards at my question, her hand slipping away from my own to rest on the very edge of the table as an inquisitive expression settled on her face.

"I remember. You said it caused no distress, and that it was not a bother ..."

She trailed off as if she had come to a sudden realisation, her cheeks reddening and the curious look that had been on her face shifted to one of sudden embarrassment and guilt. I watched as her eyes darted from my face down to her hands that had dropped into her lap - her thumbs twisting around each other in nervous agitation.

"Shit. Something I did is bothering you. Oh god Fili, I am so sorry ... it's just ... you're so attractive, and you make me feel things I haven't felt in ages. I couldn't help myself, flirting is a normal thing us women do in this world ... why didn't you say something."

Her voice was quiet and hesitant, as if she had not even planned to say what she did and yet had said it, anyway. I had spent so long convincing myself that this was all too good to be true, that maybe this was a romance my panicked brain had forged out of thin air, that I had never stopped to consider that all her flirtations where honest and real. I'd held back out of respect for her, but all I had done was hurt her. Mahal I was an idiot ... I could have prevented all this if I had just been honest with her right from the start. I reached over, cupping her hands between my own and resting my thumbs over hers to quell the anxious movements of the digits.

"I was, simply put. Afraid. My fears where twofold. First, I feared breaking the oath I had made to my elders to never share the sacred beliefs of my kinfolk, and second, I was concerned that if I told you what minn einn was. Well, I feared it might force you into something you might not want, especially as I was not even certain what your feelings for me where."

I paused a moment, not even sure how to tell her all the things I needed to tell her. I felt for a moment that this was how she must feel every day, trying to explain her modern world to someone that did not fully understand it. Unsure of how to explain things simply enough that it would be understandable, and feeling that I would fail miserably. My eyes closed as I tried to remember a lesson I had been taught in my childhood that felt as if it were a lifetime away, a lesson I thought I would never have to teach another - yet here I was teaching a human.

Thorin would be appalled with me ... But Thorin wasn't here.

It was just me and Amber, and right now I needed her to understand what it was I felt because I was very sure if I didn't tell her now then I might lose her affections forever.

"You are Minn einn ... My one."

My throat felt impossibly dry, and I didn't dare look at her after that, for I was too afraid that if I looked at her, I would once again lose all courage to say what I needed to say.

"I don't even know how to convey the depth of what it is to have a One to you. When humans fall in love, they do so repeatedly. Dwarves only fall in love once ... with their one. Someone forged for us from the very same block of stone by Mahal himself. Once you find your one you are drawn to them heart and soul, a sacred bond that not all dwarves are lucky enough to ever experience."

A smile slowly made its way over her lips, her eyes finally lifting from their intense inspection of my hands that still clung to hers, up my torso and then finally settling on my gaze. There was a slight hint of understanding in those eyes, as if she knew what I talked about, and it heartened me because she didn't seem the least put off by my explanation of what it meant for dwarves to have a one.

"Like a soul mate?"

I tilted my head, having not realised that Humans might have a similar concept to a one. Then again, I had spent little time among the humans that inhabited middle earth. Maybe they had such a concept, and it had been an error on my behalf to not educate myself about the other races that inhabited my one time home world. Amber's lips lifted into the barest hints of a smile at my confused expression, and she let out a barely perceivable laugh.

"A soulmate is someone that just gets you. It's a connection of minds, a mutual respect, an unconditional love and a total understanding. It's about being yourself and knowing, not only that person is following and understanding your thoughts, but is right there with you, side by side... or that's what romantic story tales will have you believe."

So humans did have a similar concept, and it sounded just as rare as it was for a dwarf to find their one. I nodded my head softly, feeling that her words were more than adequate to explain what it was to have a One - to have someone that completed you in such a way that you would never be alone again no matter the distance that separated you.

My right hand left hers, moving to rest on the underside of her jaw so I could trace a thumb along the side of her cheek. Amber's eyes fluttered, half closing as she leaned in against the touch with a content smile on her face that brought warmth back into my heart at the realisation that the pain I had caused her had finally been eased.

"I want you to understand, you have no obligation toward me. If at any point you decide that you don't want to pursue this any further, than I will respect your choice."

I could feel the heat growing in her cheeks as my thumb moved to trace her lower lip, encouraged by the fact that she had not yet pushed me away. This might not have been what I had once envisioned my life to be, but it was slowly becoming something I was thankful to experience despite all the pains I had to endure to get here.

"I am grateful for your understanding, Fili. I might not know what it fully means to be your one, but I know that what I feel for you is stronger than what I've ever felt for anyone ... it scares me a little..."

"Because of Troy?"

She nodded, and the fear she felt that I might just up sticks and leave her just as Troy had once done was palpable. I didn't think it had always bothered her, that at first she had been okay to teach me and then let me out into the wide world, but now? Amber had discovered this new strong feeling of love for another, and the fear that person would leave her festered within her as painfully as any physical wound might. It disgusted me. You didn't abandon your one! I had to remind myself that Troy was a human and didn't feel such obligations, but that didn't stop me from thinking the only good use of the man would be as Warg fodder.

That Amber had still flirted with me despite all this was astounding.

"Oh, Amber ... I am so sorry. You are my one ... my only one ... I would never abandon you like that."

I wanted to tell her I couldn't live my life without her, that thinking of such a thing terrified me more than being away from my family. I had already told her she had no obligation toward me, but I already felt like I was toeing the line a little too close by telling her she would be my only love. Her eyes half opened, lips slowly reforming into that half smile once again and returning a confidence to me that while it scared her, she wanted something more from this.

"You don't have to be sorry. While all this scares me, it also excites me ... I'm glad it was my garden you ended up in,"

It was a sentiment I had thought on many a time, that I had been very lucky to have been dropped into her garden. I didn't know if this was something I had to thank Mahal for, but I silently thanked him regardless for giving me another chance at life - a happier life with someone that I could love. A playful smile bloomed into life on her face, her left hand finally leaving her lap and lifting to keep mine in place against her jaw as she moved to press her lips against the palm of my hand. The skin of my palms had lost some sensitivity after years of wielding a hammer and blade, but there was still enough feeling for me to lose myself in the momentary daydream of what it would be like to kiss her.

I didn't get to content myself in that daydream for long. One moment she had been beside me, happily resting her lips against my palm, and the next she had moved to straddle herself over my lap, her knees brushing against my hips as she settled herself in against me.

The playful glimmer in her eyes remained as she examined my face, as if she were waiting to see if my reaction to her forwardness would be favourable or not. I knew in my mind that I should have had better control of myself, but my body was already betraying my inner voice to not get too excited by the feeling of her center pressed up against me. Mahal, it didn't matter that she was wearing clothes; I was already hard, and I wanted her.

A husky sound of delight left her, and then her lips were on mine, warm and soft as she kissed me in a slow languid manner that left me breathless. I could have stayed there forever in that moment, basking in the sensation of her body against mine and my lips on hers, but eventually the need to breathe made itself known and I had to reluctantly break away from her.

"You're not making it easy for me to take this slow."

She let out a half chuckle, and I had to bite back a moan as she arched her hips into mine.

The woman was going to drive me to the edge of insanity, and yet I was not upset about that one bit - in fact, I had to say that I was rather enjoying her taking the initiative. I knew how to court a dwarrowdam, how far one should go, and what was acceptable. However, I had no idea how I went about courting a human woman, especially one in this modern era that had vastly different ideas about what that process involved - her taking the lead made it a bit easier. Amber rubbed her fingers along my jawline, ruffling the hairs of my beard, and I partially closed my eyes to watch her lustfully from behind my eyelashes.

"I know that you want this, Mahal knows I want it too. But I also want to respect the fact that you are fearful of how fast it has all happened. I admit I don't know what is expected of me here when it comes to courting a partner ... so I ask, that for now you will allow me to court you in the manner of my people."

It took all my self-control to carefully shift her off my lap, and then lower her to rest in against my side. I knew painfully that I still very much wanted her, but I remained firm in my resolve. I wanted to do this the right way - I would take care of my need later. For now, I contented myself to running my hand through her hair, her light brown locks silky smooth as they flowed through my fingers - some in my world might have thought her partially shaven head was unbecoming of a woman, but I found that I enjoyed the look of the style for it allowed me to see more of her beautiful face.

"If you would allow me, I would like to give you a courting braid ... I know no one here will know what it means, but we will know and that is all that really matters,"

She let out an indistinct sound of bliss as I continued to run my hands through her hair, content with this level of affection even if she craved something a little more intimate than this. If I had been in Erebor, I would have crafted her a bead or cuff specially for this occasion, but I was not in Erebor and nor was I in the blue mountains - there would be no specially crafted hair ornaments for my one. Amber shifted her head into my fingertips, a silent askance to continue my attentions as she finally responded to my question.

"I would like that very much."

I might not be able to craft her some hair ornaments of her own, but I had some of my own to give her. Even if that meant I would have to remove one or more of my own braids. I had worn my braids for years, each one given to me by members of my family to mark significant events in my life, and I never thought that I would ever have to remove them. My fingers continued their attentions of her hair as I considered each of my braids, silently asking myself if it would be one that I could live without. Finally, I reached the conclusion that I would remove the two braids of my moustache that my brother had given me just before we had departed from the blue mountains. Of all my braids I felt like these would be the ones that would get the most questioning looks from the humans of this world once I finally found my way out into the world beyond my home.

My home ... it felt nice to have a place to call my own, even if it didn't fully belong to me.

I spent a further three minutes contemplating how I would braid her hair. This would be a braid that she would hopefully wear for the rest of her natural life. Several ideas made themselves known to me, my fingers gently shifting her hair this way and that as I visualised the designs, but there was only one that I felt suited her.

The slow brushing of my fingers through her hair became more methodical as I formed a small French braid on the right side of her head that followed the line of the shaved section of her hair, the braid growing slightly in width as it flowed off her scalp. A low grumble of satisfaction left me as I finished my braiding, the first silver clasp fastening the very end of the braid, whilst its partner was artfully positioned two inches above it.

This was a braid that I might one day be able to compliment with a marriage braid on the opposite side of her head. I knew that was thinking a bit far ahead of myself, that there was no guarantee that a marriage would take place, but mother had it drilled into my head even before my majority that Courtship and Marriage braids where supposed to compliment one another and thus you should think very carefully what you wanted that overall design to be when you finally found a Dam that agreed to court you.

My mother would have been so happy for me, as would the rest of my kinfolk come to think of it. Amber might not be a dwarf, but they would never have questioned my choice to pursue her once they found out she was my one. I wished so desperately that all my kin could have met Amber, that they could know the woman that had captured my heart so fully, but it would never be.

It was the only sad mark in a world that was slowly becoming my one true place of happiness.


	8. Responsibilities and Home Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is being posted a bit early as I felt like you could all do with some new year's cheer  
> It is a little longer than previous updates, as I felt I had a lot to cover. I hope you all enjoy
> 
> :: A note for this chapter ::  
> Key Stage two is aimed at school children between the ages of 7 and 11.

# :: Amber POV ::

The soft notes of Christmas music drifted into my ears as I wandered slowly through the packed bookshelves of the local bookstore. I had dropped into the store on the way back home from work, fully intending to pick up some educational books for Fili, but now that I was here looking at the educational section I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the vast selection of books on offer. I had entirely skipped the Maths and History books as I felt that right now those were subjects the dwarf had no need for, and had settled for perusing the Science and Technology books instead since I felt those were the things that I would struggle to teach him the most.

I ran my fingers along the spines of the books, entirely ignoring the college and high school level books and settling for examining the Key Stage Two books. Fili wasn't a stupid man by any stretch of the imagination, and had quite the extensive teaching given the time era he'd been pulled from, but that didn't mean I could just start him off with higher education stuff when he hadn't even learned any of the basics. He needed a book that would explain things like electricity and modern mechanics simply, in a way that he could easily understand.

My fingers picked out a book entirely about the concept of electricity, something I already struggled to explain as it was. Before Fili had come into my life, I would turn on the television or flip on a light and not even thought about it beyond that. It was all stuff I had learned about in school and promptly forgotten the moment I was flung into adult life - because who needed the knowledge of the intricate workings of the power grid when you worked in retail?.

Then Fili had asked about it and flung me into the role of very unprepared teacher.

The book slipped into the crook of my arm alongside the book about modern technology I had selected moments beforehand and moved to rub my palm against a spot just above my right breast where a low ache had settled some hours before. I still didn't fully understand what it was to be a One. Yes, there was the concept of a soul mate in romantic literature, but it didn't seem to be quite as - physical - as the dwarven version. Fili had assured me I wouldn't always ache like this when I was away from him, that my brain would eventually learn to filter out the additional stimulus over time, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with right now.

Given that it was my 'soul' yearning to be near its partner and not a physical pain, I couldn't even treat it with over-the-counter painkillers. Lord knows I had already tried that method of dealing with the aching sensation. The best way to deal with it beyond getting home to Fili was to rub at the area as if I had sore muscles, though I thought it was more the movement distracting me from the pain than the warmth of my hands that helped. My body shifted slightly to ease the weight from one foot to the other as I shifted my attention back to the books, trying my best to get back to the task at hand.

The sooner I was done with my task, the sooner I could get back to the comfort of my home, and wrap myself up in the arms of my partner.

My eyes scanned the books once more, entirely at a loss for what else I needed to grab. I didn't think I needed to worry about Chemistry, Biology or Physics. Perhaps a more general encyclopaedia of science would be of more value? It was worth having for those more obscure things without having to spend a fortune on a book for every subject in the scientific world. I grabbed the first book I laid my eyes on, adding it to the growing pile and grunting at the added weight of the rather thick tome. Why the bookstore didn't have some kind of small trolley for carting around your purchases was beyond my understanding. Surely I wasn't the only one that needed to buy multiple books for home-schooling.

A brightly coloured book toward the lower part of the shelf drew my attention, a blush forming on my face as I focused on the title of the book and realised it was a sexual education book. My desires for Fili had been steadily growing for the last few days now, and I was sure that eventually we were bound to give into that lust for one another. I was comforted because if we had sex, I would at least be protected. I had been getting a contraceptive injection each year, having started not long after I met Troy, and had kept up with my appointments even though he'd left not long after. I had loved the fact it controlled the mess that was my menstrual cycle - no more god awful cramps!

I adjusted the pile of books in my arms as I turned away from the shelf and made my way to the payment counter, thinking that I had more than enough books to keep the dwarf busy for some weeks now.

My eyes scanned the festive decorations that festooned the table as I approached it and wondered when I would start feeling a bit more christmassy. It was only just approaching the end of October, more than enough time to feel festive, but it was hard to feel that way when I still had so much responsibility on my hands. A pile of illustrated books about the nativity story had been propped on the countertop, another element of the festive display that had been put together by the store staff, and I reached over to add one of them to my pile that was already being scanned up for purchase. This was going to cost me a fortune, but I didn't mind too much. My business loan to set up Fili's new and still very secret business had finally been approved, and I now had a bit of additional money to cover the cost of the books.

With the books paid for and the heavy bag in hand, I made my way out of the store and into the cool autumnal air.

I looked along the road, scanning for the clothing store I had made a click and collect order with during my lunch break, and made a beeline for it the moment I spotted it. Life would have been easier if I had ordered online, but it was so much quicker to just go to the store then wait a few days for the stuff to come in the mail. The clothes store was a little busier than the bookstore had been, full of people browsing the isles and waiting patiently at the checkout. Groups of friends chattered away at the entrance, either biding their time to go in, or waiting for a friend to come out and join them. I slipped past the chattering groups and made my way into the store, feeling rather pleased with myself for ordering to pick up.

Browsing in the quiet of a bookshop was an enjoyable thing. Browsing in a clothes shop and constantly having people barging in to grab something you were looking at without so much as a 'how do you do' was less enjoyable. I would have called it positively stressful. Finding the click and collect area was thankfully relatively easy, and a large bag of clothing was soon held in my opposite hand as I struggled out of the busy store and back out into the relative quiet of the main street. The scent of cooking crepes reached my nose from a nearby food stall, reminding my now rumbling stomach that it had been too long since I had eaten, and that it was now time to catch the bus and get home.

A grunt left me as I adjusted the weight of the bags in my hands as I made my way down the street, making me wish that I had brought Fili with me, but knowing he wasn't quiet ready yet to leave the house. I hadn't even taught him what a car was, let alone any basic road sense - I'd been more focused on worrying about the technology he already faced daily in my home, hence my need to get some books.

The weight of the bags was momentarily loosened from my hands, dropped carefully to the ground as I finally reached the bus stop, once again lifting my hand to rub at the ache that had returned behind my ribcage. I made a visual check for when the next bus would arrive as I stood there. The sign that was attached to the stop showed a short five-minute wait, which wasn't at all that bad, and I leaned myself in against a nearby wall instead of taking a seat on the proved bench.

While I waited, I watched the poor woman at the stop beside mine as she tried to keep her large brood of young children under control. She looked so tired that it made me feel positively energetic despite my tiredness and the weight of responsibility on my shoulders.

The hand that had been rubbing my chest lifted to run through my hair, trying to smooth the messy locks back into place, and tucking my braid back behind my ear. I was still getting used to wearing the courting braid as I'd never worn my hair in one style for long, and I especially was not used to any kind of hair jewelry. As I adjusted the braid, the cool metal of the cuffs pressed against the skin of my neck, drawing a shiver from my body, and I pulled my scarf tighter around me to warm both the cuffs and my insides. I should have put it up in a ponytail with the rest of my hair, no one would know what it meant if they saw it after all, but I still felt that I very much wanted people to see it - so I had gotten in the habit of letting it hang loose.

Thankfully for me I didn't have to worry about the chill much longer as the bus pulled up to the stop and I had never boarded a bus so quick in my life.

I dropped myself and my bags into the nearest seat, and rested my head against the window as I watched the world pass me by. The mass of buildings and the constant sound of traffic sometimes made me wonder about the world Fili had left behind and what it had been like. I'd been in the countryside before, but I very much doubted that came close to being even near what middle earth had been like. Even in the countryside's quiet you could not escape the sound of aircraft, and nor could you escape the light pollution from the cities. I couldn't even remember the last time I had seen the dusting of stars and space dust that represented the arms of the milky way. What did a world that had not been tarnished by human development look like? The sheer stillness and natural beauty it must have had.

If only things had been the opposite way. If only I had gone to his world instead, so he didn't have to see what humans had done to the world.

My depressed mood followed me off the bus as I got off at my stop, my feet carrying me down the familiar path that led to my home and to the garden gate. From this angle I could easily see Beryl sauntering about in her garden again, a dreamy smile on her face and the garden hose she was holding aimlessly sputtering water half over her patio. It was a clear sign that Fili must have taken advantage of the relatively warm weather and was once again exercising in the back garden. I let out an amused snort as I adjusted the heavy bags, debating on calling out my neighbor for once again perving on the poor man, and instead settled for calling out to Fili.

"Phil ... give us a hand will you, these bags are heavy."

I hated that I had to use a human name for him while outside the four walls of our home. He already bore a striking enough resemblance to the actor that played Fili that I was sure he'd draw attention when I finally got him out of the house, but if I also used his given name when out in public ... he'd get teased within an inch of his life for his 'mother' daring to name him for a fantasy character. Beryl just about jumped out of her skin at the sound of my voice, hastily letting an innocent whistle past her lips as she returned to watering her flowers even as Fili opened up the back gate with a questioning brow raised up into his hairline.

Normally I would be distracted by the sight of the topless male standing in front of me, lord knows it had happened plenty of times before, but today I was distracted for another reason entirely. He had shaved! When I had left that morning he still had been wearing the long remnants of his moustache braids, but those were now gone, as was the goatee. He hadn't completely shaved down to the bare skin, having left a covering of light stubble that was like the style his brother had worn in the movies. Thank goodness he hadn't gone completely baby faced, I rather liked his beard, and wouldn't have known how to feel if he'd shaved down to the bare skin.

"Did you have a good day at work, love?"

He greeted me with a gentle kiss on the cheek as he took the bags from my hands, barely seeming to register the weight - and why would he? Fili was in impeccable shape, even if he didn't have to fight any more. I slipped into step beside him as he walked back toward the house, giving a wave of greeting to Beryl, who was now trying desperately to ignore me as she usually did when I caught her being a bit too nosy for her own good. If she kept being nosy, I would have to get some additional plants or something to block her view into the garden, while Fili hadn't complained about her, I knew that it must not be comfortable for him to have some random woman drooling over him while he tried to exercise.

"Good enough, it's getting really busy with the festive season approaching."

Another questioning look was given and I let out a sigh as I tilted my head toward my home. It was fast becoming my silent explanation to him I would explain once we were back in the privacy of our home. Fili gave a barely perceivable nod, offered me a bright smile as he pushed open the back door for me with a nudge of his elbow and fixed me with an expectant look as he waited for me to step into the house. The scent of something unfamiliar filled my nose as I stepped past the threshold and into the relative warmth of my living room, shrugging out of my thick coat and hanging it up from a hook on the wall.

"You didn't have to cook, you know."

Fili shrugged as he stepped in behind me, closing the door with his foot and laying the bags down onto the sofa. He shifted partially on his heel, leaning his body in such a way that I knew that he was checking on something in the kitchen and then giving me a bright toothed smile.

"I wanted to set up a ... what did you call it the other day? A date night?"

My heart warmed at the knowledge that he'd gone through the effort to do something nice for me. Had Troy ever gone to that effort? I didn't remember if he'd even bothered to do anything nice for me around the house. What had I ever seen in Troy? I was wondering if there ever had been any redeeming qualities to the man. Fili did not take me out to restaurants, or any other date outside our home, but he was attempting to make me feel loved and appreciated despite his limited ability to get out of the house. I slipped in beside him, wrapping an arm around his sweat drenched torso and leaned up to kiss the underside of his jaw.

"Go clean up while I get changed out of my work clothes, I will meet you in the kitchen shortly."

He rumbled a low agreement and I could feel his eyes on me as I slipped out of his arms and into the hallway that led toward the bedrooms. The hallway was slightly darkened as natural light didn't reach that well into this part of my home, but I didn't need to see where I was going to know where my room was - I'd walked this path thousands of times. My hand pushed open the door that would lead to my bedroom, the sounds of the shower starting up in the bathroom reaching my ears as I closed it behind me. I was tempted to go make sure that Fili would be okay, but then reminded myself that he was fine and had stopped needing bathroom help weeks ago.

My work shirt was pulled up over my head and thrown into the laundry basket as I made my way to the wardrobe. I didn't really own much that I would call fancy, most of my clothes falling into the 'comfy and casual' category. The doors of the wardrobe were opened, and my fingers strayed to comb through the few dresses I owned for something that was not too fancy, but also with enough of a wow factor that it would get a reaction out of Fili. I loved getting a reaction out of him. He was very facially expressive for someone of the line of Durin and I kind of wanted to see what he would do if I wore the little cocktail dress I'd purchased for last year's work Christmas Party.

I pulled out the dress, the golden fabric shimmering in the light - I'd wanted something not too fancy, but now that I saw the dress I couldn't help myself but to pick it.

Once I had stepped out of my trousers, the dress was pulled over my body, the fabric moulding perfectly to the curves of my body. I brushed down the fabric as I examined myself in the mirror, my fingers adjusting the dress as it fell down my body. The hemline stopped just above my knees, with a long slit on the right side that revealed quite a lot of thigh, which left me wondering if I was maybe being a little too seductive? I tilted my head slightly as I pondered on the matter, but eventually decided that I was fine the way I was. I had to stop worrying about if I was taking this too quick or not, had to start actually living my life and just let myself be happy again now the opportunity had presented itself.

My fingers pulled my hair out of the ponytail it had been in, a quick spray of some dry shampoo and a quick brush being all I needed for it to look nice enough for the rest of the afternoon. I settled the loose curls over the left side of my head, musing that I didn't look half bad considering I'd just walked in from a long day of work. My head nodded slightly as I checked my appearance in the mirror and made a last judgement that there was nothing more needed to finish my ensemble. I slipped out of my room with a smile on my face, my quick pace carrying me along the short corridor and around the corner into the kitchen where the dwarf was waiting for me.

Fili had his back turned to me as I entered the room, his attention focused on finishing plating up the night's meal, which looked and smelled to be an exceptionally well cooked stew. The dwarf was wearing a blue button-up shirt he'd probably found in the draw of clothing I'd set aside for my brother, and a pair of the black joggers I'd gotten him earlier in the week. His still slightly damp hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of his neck, a few wild strands of hair that refused to be tamed falling out down his back in loose wavy curls.

"So, why Phil?"

Of course he knew I was there, he probably got the same sense of warmth and comfort I felt in my core whenever I was near him.

"Was the first human name I could think of in the moment. I can't use your given name, it's too well known and I don't think you want the attention that comes with it."

"The attention?"

I sighed and stepped up behind him to wrap my arms around his body as he half turned to look at me with those pale eyes of his. As a royal, he was probably used to being in the public eye and the attention that came with it - both positive and negative.

"Remember, I told you there is a book written about you? Well, it's fairly popular at the moment as they released a movie about it a year back. People are going to think Fili is the coolest name ever ... or they are going to think you're weird for being named after someone in a novel."

He shrugged as if it didn't bother him that much what people thought of him. He wiggled out of my arms as he picked up the bowls of stew and turned round fully to make his way to the table, but stopped in his tracks as he finally got a good look at what I was wearing. The blush that was forming on his cheeks was much more visible without the bushy beard in the way, and I found it rather endearing to see him so flushed. His eyes slowly roved up and down my body, lips partially opening to let a few flustered words of khuzdul leave him, and I was sure that he'd be kissing me senseless already if he hadn't already been carrying our dinner toward the table.

"In that case, use my human name when you deem appropriate ... just as long as you promise to keep calling me my given name when we are alone, Mahal knows I've lost enough as it is without my name too."

Despite how flustered he must have felt, Fili was still composed enough to keep the conversation going. Part of his princely upbringing, I guessed. He offered me a loving smile, carefully placed the plates down on the table and let out a low, wistful sigh as if maybe wishing that things could be different.

"You look beautiful. I wish they could have met you ..."

I reached over to take his hands into mine, rubbing my thumbs over the backs of his hands and trying to be as supportive as I could.

"I wish I could have met them too. When you are ready, perhaps you will tell me more about them?"

The movies and books had painted his family to be an interesting bunch but lacked the depth to portray what they were like as real life people, and there had to be so much more to them as 'background support characters'.

"I would like that very much."

I smiled affectionately as I let his hands free so we could finally settle down to eat, feeling sad that yet again my world had stolen something from him and I would be sorely pressed to find some way to make up for his loss.


	9. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Smutty chapter, enjoy ;)
> 
> :: Notes :: 
> 
> There are no real references that I can find that describes exactly what Dwarves do for Durin's day, and so I am going with a head-cannon idea semi influenced by Pagan and Norse traditions.

#  :: Fili POV ::

I stared down into my stew for a moment as I mulled over the human name she had assigned to me, while I agreed with her sentiment that using my given name would draw too much attention that didn’t mean that I liked it. I stood by what I had told her moments before. This world had already stolen so much from me and now I couldn’t even use my actual name in front of strangers. At least it was a name I did not have to use too often for the time being, and just maybe I would be used to it by the time I got out into the strange world that waited for me beyond her garden.

I’d seen glimpses of the world beyond her fence. The strange metal beasts that flew in the skies and the loud obnoxious contraptions that travelled the street concerned me. They seemed safe enough, just like the other forms of technology that I had been introduced to, but I still didn’t feel like they could be entirely trusted either.

My eyes drifted up from the stew to look back up at the women that sat opposite me on the table. Mahal, I wondered if she knew what she was doing to me by wearing that dress? I’d never actually seen a woman wear anything that tight fitting before, and it left very little to the imagination. I wasn’t complaining, but I wasn’t entirely sure if I could control myself either. There was a part of my brain that was slowly and surely being unravelled by my lust for her, that would have liked nothing more than to forget dinner, throw the dishes aside and just make passionate love to her on the table. Desperate not to let that part of my brain take full control, I re-focused myself on a question I had asked her earlier and had yet to get an answer for.

“So, what exactly is the festive season?”

Amber offered me a smile that said she was pleased we’d moved the conversation to something that was a bit happier. Her body shifted forward into her seat as she partially leaned toward me, her spoon lowering into her bowl as she forgot about her meal for a moment in her excitement to tell me exactly what a festive season was.

“The festive season I am talking about is Christmas. It’s a yearly celebration that is observed on the twenty-fifth day of December. It is primarily a Christian holiday, and we can get more into human religious beliefs at a later date - it’s a lot to take in. Of course, not everyone that celebrates Christmas follows the Christian faith - Christmas has become more of a family celebration over the years. Dependent on the family, there are several traditions that may be observed. Typically, everyone will decorate a tree and their homes for the duration of the month. Most families will also gather on Christmas day itself to have a roast dinner and swap gifts.”

I didn’t think there was anything in middle earth quite like what she was describing. The closest that I could think of would have been Durin’s day. I vaguely remembered that my father would help decorate the halls with fall foliage, and then we would have a massive feast each year to remember those that had fallen before us. I still didn’t entirely know when Durin’s day fell in this world, the calendar year here seemed very different to the one in middle earth, and despite best efforts I had yet to figure out the exact day it fell - only that it was some time in the coming week.

“Sounds a lot like Durin’s day.”

Amber gave a thoughtful nod of her head, taking the spoon into her fingers, and took a few more bites of strew.

“Mmm, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Christmas has some pagan roots, though a lot of those traditions, like the burning of the yule log, have died out. People from a hundred years ago probably wouldn’t even recognise Christmas as it is now - it’s very much a holiday heavily focused toward children. Kids will pester their parents to ask Father Christmas, a jolly fellow that delivers presents on the night of Christmas Eve, to get them whatever expensive toy the shops advertise that year. It’s why retail, my sector of work, gets so busy ... I’ll be working a lot of late nights in December,”

It all sounded rather bizarre, but who was I to judge. Amber would probably think some of my dwarven customs to be rather odd when I finally got round to teaching her them. She might not be in my world, but I still felt it terribly important that she learned some important customs of the dwarves. I had already decided that in the next week I would start teaching her to speak Khazdul. Amber didn’t need to learn the language given I was the only dwarf she would ever interact with, but I longed to hear a voice other than my speaking in my mother tongue. This modern human world had taken everything else from me, so to preserve at least one thing from that previous life was now a desperate need.

“What traditions do you observe personally?”

She shrugged her shoulders and let a casual half grunt pass her lips.

“I will put up a tree and decorate the house. I’ve been living on my own for a few years now, so I don’t make much of an effort beyond that unless it’s my turn to host Christmas. My family take in in turns and this year we will all go to my brother’s ... which means it will be hectic. His children are just old enough to know what Christmas is so they are really excited about it.”

I wondered briefly what the rest of her family was like. Amber didn’t talk about them much beyond very brief mentions, and the more I learned, the more I found myself curious of them. To hear that she was an aunt was a surprise, but I should have expected that she might well be one given how large human families could become. It made me sad that Dwarven families were so small in comparison, and I’d been lucky that I’d grown up with a brother. It had been so long since I had thought about Kili - Mahal, I missed seeing that mischievous grin whenever he was about to get us into trouble. The companionship of a sibling had been one of life's simple joys back them, even if my brother had been a complete pain in the ass more times then I could count. 

“I would like to know more about your family.” 

Amber lowered her spoon back into the empty bowl, lounging back into her chair lazily as she let out a contented sigh. The fabric of her dress shimmered in the light, reminding me of the halls full of gold back in Erebor. I had only seen a small portion of that treasure, the vast wealth of a kingdom that had been at it's prime when Smaug decimated the city. What would my kin be doing now? Would they be preparing both myself, my brother, and my uncle for burial in the royal crypt? I pushed the chilling thought aside; it was too nice an evening to be contemplating your own death.

“My parents. Ruth and John, met when they were in their late twenties. Love blossomed almost instantly and they married two years later. I was the firstborn child to come from the union, followed by my sister Alice, and then lastly my brother Alex. We where not rich, struggled more times then I care to count, but we where happy as a family despite it. My brother was the first of us children to find love and get married. I think it surprised my mum, she always thought it would be me or my younger sister, but my sister is not actively interested in settling and I got unlucky in love. Alex’s wife, Trish, is a lovely lady and I could have not asked for a better sister-in-law. They had twins about four years ago now. Daniel and Harry are just bundles of energy at the moment, they are fun to babysit on the odd occasion, but boy is it ever a relief when you give them back to their parents.”

She lifted a hand through her hair, fingers adjusting the brown locks that had fallen into her eyes, and then giving me a wry smile as she rubbed nervous fingers over the silver cuffs of her braid. 

“I should clarify that despite my words, I want to have children of my own. Seeing my brother settle down and enjoy family life confirmed my desire to have that for myself, but I am still young. I’m not even thirty yet, but the way my mother goes on you’d think I was positively barren. I just, want to find the right person, enjoy my life with them a little, and then I can worry about kids. Is that too much to ask for?”

If Amber had been born in my world, she would have been married off and had children by now. The women in this era seemed in less of a rush for such things, content to live an independent life and then get married when they were a bit older. I didn’t begrudge her at all for wanting to wait until she was more settled and in a position to better provide for a family. It was the first time I had actively thought about what I wanted out of my future; I had yet to even hit the age of majority and still felt impossibly young. I had hundreds of years ahead of me, but Amber ..... no, I would not think about how terribly short her life would be compared to my own.

This was date night, not think terribly depressing thoughts night. 

Yet my brain was thinking about them, anyway. The young, vibrant woman that sat in front of me would one day die, leaving me to traverse the world alone. I’d seen what had happened to my grandfather when he lost his one - he’d become a shell of a man. Mahal, had I not already suffered enough? I let out a grunt, determined not to worry about such things. I’d already been blessed at the opportunity to live again, so I would be damned if I spent all my time with her worrying about something that was at least five or six decades away.

“Not at all. How long do humans in this world typically court for before they marry?”

My depressed thoughts latched onto the first question that came to my thoughts, and it was one that had been on my mind since I had given her the courting braid. Ones usually did not court long, the pull of the bond irresistible and why put off the inevitable? Things in this world where a lot different, and I always felt like I was impossibly close to putting a foot out of place at least once a day. For now, I had been following the ways of my people as best I could, had asked that she allowed me to court her in such a manner, but it was also important for me to learn what was expected in this world - The last thing I wanted to do was push things too far, too soon. My body yearned to take things further, and her flirtatious manner only made it harder to ignore those desires.

Fili would have told me to stop being stupid, that the woman was giving me clear signals, and to take her to my bed already.

But in this modern world I didn’t know what was, or was not, a clear signal. Amber had already told me it was common in this world for women to display flirtatious behaviour with men they liked, and so I didn’t think I could easily use it as a signal that she wanted me to take things further. I had been waiting for her to make an advance, to show that she was ready for me to take the next step. Then she’d come to our date night in that glorious golden dress, and I still questioned if that was an open invitation or not. Amber let out a thoughtful sound as she further relaxed into her chair, one leg lifting to rest over the knee of the other in such a way that the slit of her dress revealed quite a lot of skin.

“I wouldn’t say there is a set time, it is all dependent on the couple and their chemistry. Some couples decide pretty quick in their relationships they have found the right person, and other couples take a little more time to know one another first.”

It took quite the effort to remain focused on her words because coherent thought was once again being taken over by other desires, and I had to force my eyes back up to her face. The knowing smile on her lips as she watched me from behind her lashes told me she made the move purely to see what my reaction to it was. I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by the word Chemistry, the common tongue of this world as always liking to confuse me greatly, but given the context I had to guess it meant sexual attraction. I attempted to bring back that cool and collected princely part of my brain, but it seemed beyond my reach now and I wasn’t sure if I could pull it back or not.

“People are not as religious as they are in your world. There are some couples that decide not to get married, and it’s not uncommon for people to have sex with their partner before they tie the knot.” 

My fingers intertwined together as I leaned forward on the table, contemplating her words as my chin lowered to rest on top of my knuckles, and allowed the beginnings of a playful smile to flicker over my lips. Flirting was unfamiliar territory, an unknown landscape that I felt nervous to traverse into and I didn’t think I would have stepped into it willingly if I hadn’t been so overcome with desire for her.

“And what about you, what do you want?”

Her brows lifted ever so slightly at my question and that playful expression made itself known once more as she thought on the matter for a short moment. The skin on her face was slowly turning a shade of attractive pink, her lips parting as if to say something and then closing again as if reconsidering how to say it. After a few brief moments, she finally seemed to gather her scattered thoughts together, her hands lowering to rest comfortably in her lap. 

“I want to stop being fearful. I know what it is my heart and soul yearn for, and that I shouldn’t let what has happened in the past keep me from pursuing those desires. Lord knows my mind goes to the gutter often enough as it is, especially if I catch you wandering the house topless.”

“The gutter?”

Another unfamiliar common tongue expression. She let out a laugh, shook her head and then gracefully got to her feet, once again giving me the wonderful opportunity to drink in the sight of her in that dress.

“It’s a phrase people use to mean that their mind is wandering to more intimate thoughts, or if they are saying things that could be taken as innuendo.”

Well, I knew how that felt. My brain had been in the gutter a few times already, and I was pretty sure I was well and truly back in that familiar realm now. All I could think of was slowly peeling her out of that dress until she laid beneath me in all her naked glory. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh that sounded distinctly husky to my ears. The expression on Amber’s face was priceless - a mix of pure desire and something that must have been arousal making themselves known as she crossed the short distance between us and settled herself onto the edge of my right leg to half sit on my lap.

My instinctual reaction was almost immediate, my hands moving to grip her hips and turn her until she was straddled over my hips. My eyes met hers, taking in those blue orbs of hers and noting just how darkened they had become - she wanted this almost as much as I did. Amber didn’t once try to escape my grasp, her hands coming to rest on my shoulders and the sensation of her fingertips brushing against the skin of my neck caused whatever blood was left in my head to settle in my groin. I bit back a moan, unable to contain myself as my hands drifted from her hips and up her body, feeling quietly assured that if she didn’t want my attentions, then she’d make it very clearly known.

I would have to be blind and stupid to miss that this was the signal from her that I had been waiting for.

My lips met hers in a blazingly passionate kiss, her soft skin against my own for the briefest of moments before they parted, and I was introduced to the sensation of her tongue begging entrance to my mouth, and who was I to deny it? We had kissed before, but never like this! The sensation of her exploring my mouth and fighting my tongue for dominance in the kiss was beyond exotic, and I let out a shuddering groan at the feeling of my erection staining against my clothing.

The sensation of her arching her hips in against mine only fuelled my desire for her more, encouraging me on as I lowered one hand to rest on the exposed skin of her thigh. She was soft and oh so very warm under my palm, and I couldn’t help but to explore the expanse of bare skin that was on offer. A low gasp left her as we parted from the kiss, her eyes fluttering slightly closed and her head tilting upward to reveal the pale skin of her neck to my view. Mahal she was just so beautiful, and I leaned forward to place feather soft kisses against her exposed skin even as my free hand worked at pulling the fabric of her dress free from her shoulders. 

“Is this what you want?”

I could feel the shiver that traversed her body as I spoke against her skin, teasingly trailing my teeth just below her earlobe and marvelling at how just the barest of touches could earn me the most wondrous sounding moan from her lips. 

“Yes.” 

A low growl left me, a sound I never thought I would ever make in my life as I let free the last worries that plagued my mind. I trailed my tongue over her hot skin as my hand continued its exploration under her dress, letting the material bunch at her waist as half twisted my hand and slipped my hand into her panties. Her bare skin was hot and flushed against my palm, her entrance slick with anticipation under my fingers. I’d never been close to a woman, let alone touched one in such an intimate way, and I just took a moment to just take in the feeling of her sensuous skin against my own. 

The sound of excitement that left her as my fingers rubbed over a small nub of skin just above her entrance caused a shiver of arousal to drift down my spine, a kind of anticipation settling in my stomach at the thought of what was to come. I badly wanted to bury myself within her, to just lose myself to that passion and be lost to the moment. It was a desire I tempered down despite my lust for her. I might not know much about the art of lovemaking, but I knew that you saw to your partner’s pleasure before your own - because why would a woman ever want to come back to your bed if you didn’t give your best effort to make sure she enjoyed herself too?.

I kept up that slow, tormenting pressure against that nub as my other hand finally found the zipper of her dress and carefully loosened it to let the dress fall down her body. Her skin seemed to gleam in the pale light as I drew my attentions away from the nape of her neck to examine her. A black and rather lacy garment, the only thing that kept her breasts from my view, teasing me with the knowledge of what laid behind - the barest hints of skin and nipple clear behind the fabric. The pad of one thumb barely traced over one of those nipples, sending a searing heat right into my very soul as she let out a low and rather shaky moan. 

Oh fuck, I was going to feel some of her reactions bleed across our bond wasn’t I? I still didn’t know how to block out the feelings I got when she was away from me, let alone trying to drown out something like this when the better part of my brain was elsewhere. 

A shuddering breath was taken into my lungs, my hips pushing up into her despite my best efforts - the ache to find some kind of release becoming almost insistent. I still had far too many clothes on for my tastes, and Amber was in silent agreement, for her right hand was absently moving to artfully unbutton my shirt. The cool air against my skin did little to douse my desire for her, in fact it felt rather nice against my flushed skin, and I just let out a low sigh of delight at finally having some freedom from my clothing - that delight slowly turning to pleasure as her fingers moved to explore my chest.

I would never forget the way she looked at me in that moment, eyes lidded with desire and lust. Whatever hardships I had faced in my life simply evaporated as I lost myself to those eyes.

A playful smile flickered over those lips of hers as the hand exploring my chest delved lower, and never before had I been so grateful for modern human clothing as when she helped me slip out of those jogger bottoms she’d got me in my very first week of life here. Nerves drifted up out of nowhere as the next item of clothing to leave my body was my boxers, finally letting my erection free of its confines and leaving me feeling worried that she might not like what she saw. I was used to being naked in front of other men, had never felt the need to compare myself to others, but having your lover see you naked for the first time - was different.

I could feel her ardent gaze traveling my body, taking in every part of me, and I wondered if maybe she might think me too big for her. Humans seemed not as well endowed as dwarven men, if the packaging of the male undergarments was to be believed. Whatever insensitivities I might have felt left the moment that her eyes came back up to mine, her free hand that had been resting on my shoulder moving to tangle deep into my hair and draw me back into yet another kiss that swiftly became a battle for dominance as my tongue slipped into her mouth with a low moan as I rocked my hips up against her. The hand that had so wonderfully held her center tugging insistently at her undergarments just wanting nothing more than to feel her bare flesh against my own.

A low whine left my throat as she suddenly pulled herself from the kiss, her body shifting out of my lap as she stood up. A sultry wink thrown in my direction as she slowly slipped out of her panties and the garment that held her breasts, and there she stood for a moment for me to examine her. This beautiful woman was mine, made for me by Mahal himself, and never had I been more thankful in my life. Her body was lithe, and yet well built all at the same time - her toned muscles showing that she must work out despite me never actually witnessing this. The womanly curve of her hips dipped in at the midpoint of her torso and then curved back out as my hungry eyes made their way up toward her breasts.

Feeling bereft of her warmth, I pushed myself to my feet, one hand moving to rest on her hip and slowly guide her step-by-step backwards toward the table. It took little effort on my part at all to lift her from the floor and rest her rear firmly on the cool surface, her fiery center now at the perfect height to torment my member. I should have been more of a gentleman, should have taken her to her bed for our first time, but that desire was lost the moment one of her legs lifted to hook over the back of my waist - pulling me even tighter against her warm core. 

Even as I kissed her, I trailed a hand up her body to tail my thumb over her nipple in slow circles, another shuddering moan parting her lips as her hips continued to strain up against my own. I couldn’t hold myself back anymore, the hand on her hip holding firmly to her as I slipped my length into her waiting entrance. She was warm, tight and yet slick all at the same time. The inaudible gasp of surprise that left her lips reminding me that this was as new to her as it was to me, though she made no sign of any pain when I finally broke past her maidenhead. The sensation of her inner muscles flexing against me was beyond explanation, that low growl once again bubbling in my throat as I settled into a slow rhythm of my hips that soon had her moans joining my own.

Low whispered words of Khazdul spilled from my lips, a mixture of endearments for her and lowly grumbled swears.

My breath left me in low pants as my lips left hers to leave a tail of hot open-mouthed kisses down her body, determined to worship as much of her skin as I could, and the sound that left her when I finally trained my tongue over her other nipple was unlike those I had garnered from her before. I was very much aware of her building arousal, the sensation of her flexing muscles and the insistent rock of her hips against my every thrust. It was a vivid reminder that neither of us was going to last that long at all, despite my desires for the complete opposite.

“Fili.”

The sound of my name tumbling from her lips with such desire was intoxicating, the hand that still held to her hip slipping to cup her rear and lift her hips upward off the table. I wasn’t exactly sure what I had done, but it must have been something right since she moans had become almost so loud that I was sure Beryl next door would hear. The building tension in my loins and the waves of pleasure that rolled through my body where becoming almost unbearable, and unable to ignore my desire as the dance of my hips with hers quickened in tempo the sensation of her hands roaming my back barely registering in my thoughts as I focused all my attentions on earning more of those wondrous moans from her lips. 

Her muscles seemed to tighten around me as her arousal grew, her breath leaving in soft gasps and whimpering moans as she sought her own release from that same building pressure within her. A low rumbling grunt drifted from my throat as the last semblances of coherent thought left my head and instinct completely took over - my thrusts short, hard and fast as I sought to push us both over that edge. There was nothing else now, just the sound and feel of her as I buried myself into her repeatedly until I wasn’t sure where I ended and she began. 

This was how we were supposed to be, one mind and one soul - entwined in perfect harmony. 

Then she tumbled over that edge, my name parting her lips in a shuddering moan as she reached orgasm. The sensation of her muscles twitching and tightening against me was my complete undoing, my roar of release joining hers as I reached my climax. As I looked down at her flushed and sated expression, I couldn’t help but give her a wry smile and make a low flirtatious observation as my eyes moved to where her dress laid in a bundle on the floor.

” You should wear that dress more often.”

Amber laughed, a breathless sound that revealed she was still very much coming down from her high.

” Yes, I think I should”

I pulled her carefully in against my body as I slipped free of her center, hooking one arm under her legs, and then I carried her back to her room where I laid her in her bed. Feeling entirely satisfied with how the date had ended, I slipped into bed beside her and pulled her back against my body with a low contented sigh as I drifted into restful sleep.


	10. The Gift

# :: Amber POV ::

_The soft sound of a quill scratching on parchment roused me from my rest, my body stretching languidly as I rolled to my front to cast my sleepy gaze into the darkened room. It didn't take me long to recognise that I was back in that unfamiliar room again, my eyes settling on the vivid colors of the heavy tapestry that was hung on the wall to the far right. A low grumble left me as slipped my arms under my shoulders, resting my chin on my crossed forearms as my eyes left the tapestry to seek the male I knew had to be in the room - because if I was dreaming about this room again then it was only reasonable to expect that Fili would be in this dream too._

_As expected, the male was sat at his crafting table, the vast expanse of this bare back revealed to my gaze, and I just let out a sigh as I noted how wonderful his muscles looked in the amber light of the flickering candles. My left palm pressed into the soft mattress, all the support I needed to push myself to a seated position and shivering as cold air assaulted my naked skin. Well, this was new. When did I start dreaming about being naked? Maybe it was because we where now being intimate with each other and thus felt more comfortable laying around nude in front of him._

_"Come back to bed."_

_This was my dream, dammit, and I wasn't going to just sit here and dream about him doing paperwork. Fili turned his head, a pale eye lazily taking in my naked form and a smile twitching at the very edges of his lips. The beard he'd shaved off in the waking world made itself known within this reality my brain had concocted, the silver claps of his moustache braids gleaming in the light, and I had to lift a hand to run through my hair in sudden panic at the thought that my courtship braid was gone. Relief flooded through me as I felt the familiar braid in my hair, shaking fingers running through my bed messed hair and meeting the resistance of another braid on the opposite side of my head. Another interesting development that my subconscious had thrust upon me, and I wasn't even sure what it all meant._

_"I have to finish this paperwork. You know matters of state are important."_

_Oh, this wouldn't do at all. I swung my legs out of the bed, crossed the room and slipped my naked form between his body and the desk._

_"Fuck sake Fili, this is my dream. Can't we do something a bit more exciting than poxy paperwork?"_

_His warm hands settled on my hips, sending a shiver of arousal through my body - now I'd actually made love to him, my body could no longer resist him. It was like I was a horny teenager all over again. Those pale eyes part closed, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he tilted his head back as if he'd very much like to forget the paperwork, and then offered me an amused smile._

_"You know this is my dream too."_

_This was his dream too? What on earth was he talking about? Maybe this was some kind of weird lucid dream that I had stubbled into. Then my thoughts stumbled onto another crazy idea, my fingers rubbing over my aching temples as the realisation that this might very well have something to do with Ones well and truly settled into my thoughts._

_"This has something to do with Ones, doesn't it?"_

_He looked so apologetic, his eyes softening and the smile dropping from his lips. Poor Fili. He had tried his best to explain how this bond between us worked. Some days I understood the concept of what being a one meant, and then there were days I had trouble grasping the sheer enormity of it all. That I was this closely entwined with him didn't scare me at all, I'd already slowly grown used to the feeling of his soul being a part of mine, but It still felt new enough to me I didn't know what to make of it either. Maybe if I had been brought up in the dwarven culture, I wouldn't have felt so stupidly lost half the time._

_"It is a One thing. We are heart and soul as one, so to find our way into the dreams of the other is to be expected."_

_A warm hand pressed to the side of my face, drifting up to run his fingers through my hair to give a flirtatious and very gently tug against the new braid my subconscious had manifested in this dream._

_"Here we present ourselves in the manner we feel most comfortable. I should have taught you about all this, I don't think you would knowingly represent yourself as my wife if you knew how dreams worked,"_

_OH ... oh good god ... that's what the other braid represented. Was that really how I saw myself? We had only been courting for a week now, and I had planned to wait a bit before taking the next step in the relationship. My heart and soul, it seemed, were very much decided on the matter, even if the brain still was not sure. My hand moved to rest on his chest, the soft patter of his heart under my palm re-affirming that this was more than a crazy dream - he really was here with me in this moment. If I had known, would my consciousness have presented itself differently?_

_No, I didn't think it would - he was my One after all, there would be no other._

_The insistent noise of something beyond the dream tugged at my mind, a low groan leaving me as I tried to keep my consciousness tied to his, but too late - the alarm clock had made its blaring presence known and the dream scattered like a dozen dust motes on the wind._

_______________

A groan left me as my dreaming thoughts were pulled into the waking world.

For a moment I struggled to remember where I was, the warmth of a bare torso making itself known under my palm as reality slowly made itself known. A pair of sleep addled eyes opened to take in the still sleeping Fili. His golden hair pooled on the pillow beneath him and one hand half splayed over the edge of the bed. The dwarf had shared my bed ever since we had made love that first time over a week ago, because what was the point in making him sleep in the spare room when we had already been intimate, and besides I didn't think my heart could bear the thought of trying to sleep without him now.

He was a part of me as much as I was a part of him - no wonder my sleeping thoughts already considered him to be my husband.

I climbed over the broad chest of the dwarf as I reached my arm out to turn off the blaring alarm clock, the weight of his heavy arm that was still wrapped around my hips hindering my progress slightly, and letting out a low sound of surprise as that arm pulled me closer against his warm torso. The low grumbling sound the male made was endearing, his face nuzzling in against my scalp, and soft words of khazul making themselves known as he slowly roused from his sleep. I still didn't know enough of the language to string together exactly what he was saying, but I was now hearing it so often that some words were making sense - especially endearments. Fili was calling me his sweetheart, and if I was accurate in my terrible translation was begging me not to get up.

"Fili, I have to go to work."

The dwarf let out a low grunt, as if he very much disagreed, but relinquished his hold of me enough that I could reach over and turn off the alarm clock before it drove us both crazy. I didn't want to go to work either, but I had bills to pay and I still hadn't fully set up his smithy in the garage. I'd been trying desperately to keep it a surprise from him and had to trust that he wouldn't go prying when I'd expressly asked him not to spoil what was now going to be my Christmas Gift for him. It looked like I was going to have to be very careful what I dreamed about, because the last thing I wanted was for him to find his way into my dreams and to get the whole thing spoiled before it was ready.

Rough fingers drifted across my bare back, trailing idle lines over my skin and then slowly making their way around my hip. A shiver of arousal traversed my body, and I let out a low moan of frustration as the male pushed himself up from the bed to brush his lips along the sensitive skin just behind my ear.

"You don't have to go to work just yet."

The thought was all too tempting, my eyes moving to the clock to see that I still had a good hour and a half before I had to catch my bus, but I knew perfectly well that I would not be leaving the bed for some time if I let him have his way. I gave his hand a very playful swat as it wandered up toward my breast, letting a low chuckle leave me at his insistent behaviour, but knowing that I wouldn't want life with him to be any other way.

"Come now, dear, do you really think you'd settle for a quick shag?"

I turned in time to catch him give a shrug, the boyish smile on his face telling me he still fancied his chances, regardless. His leg curled under him slightly as he sat upright, arms stretching above his head, and I couldn't help but let a wandering eye enjoy the movement of his muscles underneath his skin. The body shape of the male had changed since I had first seen him topless, he was still in startlingly good shape, but even I could tell he was losing some muscular tone in his shoulders and arms - something I hoped he would regain when he started wielding a smithing hammer again. Perhaps I could even start taking him down to the local gym? The workouts he did in my garden didn't seem to be enough to maintain the muscle mass he once had, and the last thing I wanted was for him to continue down that slippery slope - I rather liked how safe I felt against his firm torso with his strong arms wrapped around me.

"No, but I do rather fancy the challenge."

Fili was incorrigible now that he had found his confidence to flirt. I turned towards him with a low laugh of amusement and rested my palm onto his chest. The steady beat of his heart against the heat of his skin taking me right back to the dream - the simple knowledge that he was my soul mate in all meanings of the word filling me with warmth and happiness. I had long thought such things were beyond my reach, that I was doomed to a life of loneliness. And yet here was basking in the warmth of his pale hazel eyes that right now looked distinctly green. My lips quirked into a smile as I finally pushed my reluctant body up off the bed and padded barefoot toward the wardrobe to retrieve a clean uniform from within.

"Fili ... If you had told me, I don't think I would have dreamed any different."

I couldn't help myself, the words tumbling out of my lips without a second thought. Did I want to have more time to date him, yes? But at the same time, my heart already knew that it wanted more. Modern society would accuse me of not taking more time to think, that I shouldn't be dreaming of settling down with a man I barely knew. And yet I knew Fili. He was my one, and I knew everything about him - that he was kind, brave and completely loyal - everything I could have ever wanted from a life partner.

"Amber?"

His voice was quiet and husky, as if he maybe thought he was still asleep and thus dreaming. I laid my clothing over my arm, turning to make my way toward the bed and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. The stubble on his skin tickled against my lips, earning an inaudible sigh from me as I shifted my head slightly to nuzzle affectionately against his cheek. It wasn't quite the same as when he had a beard, but I still enjoyed the sensation of his facial hair against my softer skin. What exactly did Dwarven etiquette say about all this? My eyes once again checked the clock, I didn't really have time for all this, but I could spare a couple of minutes longer if it meant sorting out my tangle of spiralling thoughts before I got to work.

"You once asked me what human courting looked like in this modern world. What does dwarven custom say ... is it normal for ones to decide that they want to commit this soon?"

The warmth of his palms trailed up my back, fingers easing tense muscles as they went and leaving a trail of tingling arousal in their wake. A low hum left him, a deep note that resonated within me as he pulled me closer to the warmth of his body once again.

"Dwarves rarely wait long once they find their one, the pull is irresistible. Gifts might be exchanged if the couple are of high enough rank that a show of courtship is expected, and I am beyond apologetic: I have no gifts to present to you,"

Sometimes I forgot that he was a prince, the heir to his uncle's throne. He was every bit as royal as the queen that sat on the throne in my country, but unlike her, there was no kin for him to reign over. He was now on the very lowest rung of society, and I was the only person who knew what he was. My desire to keep his gift a secret evaporated as I looked into those sad eyes of his - he so badly wanted to observe the ways of his people and yet had no way to follow those instincts. I pressed a last warm kiss to his cheek as I slipped out of his hands to get dressed for the day, and only once I was fully clothed did I take his larger hand into mine.

I led the silent male through the hallway, turning left toward the back of the home instead of toward the kitchen area. The garage was rarely a place that I visited, a space that had no use for me since I had never learned to drive, and I had never once thought it would become a handy smithy for a homeless prince that longed for the comforts of his familiar trade. My fingers wrapped around the handle of the door, turning toward the male, offering him a warm smile as I slowly propped the door open with a slight tilt of my hips.

"Well, then perhaps it is prudent I give you my gift first. This was supposed to be a Christmas surprise. It's not finished, but I think a smithy could be considered an appropriate proposal gift for someone of your status."

Fuck, I was really doing this, wasn't I? I was asking Fili, son of Dis and heir to the throne of Erebor to marry me. Regardless of the madness of it all, it felt so very right - the warmth that bloomed in my heart filling every part of my body. I didn't know what my life would have looked like if he hadn't landed in my garden, but I knew what it looked like now. Yes, this was all fast and maybe I should have dated him a bit more - but what did it matter if I skipped a few months when I already knew how much I loved him. It wasn't as if we had to stop dating just because I had proposed marriage to him, and I didn't think Fil would ever forgive himself if he allowed the romance in our relationship to die. My head tilted down slightly, a hand waving him into the spacious room beyond and unable to help myself as I stepped back to allow him to explore his new space.

"After you M'lord."

Poor Fili looked like he was in a state of shock, his lips partially open, eyes darting from the room and then back to me as if unable to believe his own good fortune. The garage was not a perfect smithy. It hadn't been designed for such a use, but I'd done the best I could to convert the room. Ventilation had been the hardest issue to solve given the size of the space, but a clever combination of metal ducts and ventilation in the doors that led out into the back garden should keep the room safe of toxic fumes. I watched as he walked into the room, his fingers attracted to the surface of the anvil I had acquired. It had been an absolute bitch to get that into the room and I still didn't know how I had sneaked it in without him noticing given I'd needed a winch to place it on the spot I had chosen for it.

I still felt that the smithy was lacking in some areas. It would be at least another couple of weeks before some of the tools arrived in the post from another local blacksmith two towns away, but there was enough here for Fili to make a start. He turned back to me, his eyes still wide, but showing the sheer depth of love that he had for me. I knew that in that moment I had won his heart for good. This was a gift that not even the dwarrowdam of his middle earth could have given him. The dwarf approached me, his muscular arms wrapping around my body and pulling me tight to his chest for a slow and yet passionate kiss that left me breathless and yearning for more.

"My Queen has outdone herself, surely such a gift far surpasses any I could give her."

"Queen?"

I blurted the title out in breathless shock, feeling horribly uncomfortable to be given such a title, especially when I had only ever considered him to be a prince. It had never once crossed my mind that he might be something a bit more then that given his unusual circumstances. He rested his forehead to mine, sad eyes catching mine as a slow exhale of breath left him as his thoughts turned to the world that he had left behind all those long months before.

"My brother and uncle are dead, are they not? I may not be a part of my kingdom anymore, but I am still heir to the throne of Erebor - a king under the mountain."

He had no real claim to that throne anymore. The Fili in middle earth had died alongside his brother and uncle, leaving the throne to be claimed by Lord Dain of the Iron Hills. However I could also see why he might still feel like he had a right to the title despite the fact it no longer held any real weight behind it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he couldn't call himself a king in his own home, there where so many things from his own world that he had already lost, and I wasn't going to deny him this if it made him feel a bit more at ease. I could even let him call me his queen in public from time to time, lord knows I'd heard enough men jokingly call a partner their 'queen' in loving affection that I could pretty much write it off as a pet name that he had given me. 

"Alas we have no mountain. You'll have to settle for one small suburban house I am afraid, try not to burn it down while I am at work."

I knew he wouldn't burn the house down, I had done all I could to make sure that the smithy was as safe as it could be, and was confident in his ability as a blacksmith to not cause a complete catastrophe the moment he was left to his own devices. Fili let out a low laugh, his lips pressing to mine in a slow and sultry kiss, and only letting me free once he was absolutely sure that I had been kissed senseless.

"I've been in the forges since I was a little dwarfling. Relax my dear, there will be no fires here beyond the ones I intend to stir in you later tonight,"

A hot flush settled in my cheeks at his husky voiced proposal, my panties feeling terribly tight and now stupidly wet. How was I supposed to concentrate at work now? I was going to be daydreaming about him all day. My hand slightly swatted against his chest as the dwarf let out a booming laugh. Oh, he freaking knew what he'd just done to me all right, and he was proud of it too. The grin on his face and how he looked at me told me without a shadow of a doubt that the male was tormenting me for the sheer fun of seeing my reactions to him.

I turned to leave the room with a shake of my head, this was all my fault for teaching him how to flirt, and now I was going to suffer for it.


	11. Magic of the Dwarves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took the idea of rune magic from both the Drizzt Novels (can't remember the tile now, it's been forever) and Fullmetal Alchemist. Magic has to come at a cost, equivalent exchange and all that.

# Fili POV

_Tap ... Tap .. Tap_

The song of a hammer against metal was a harmony as old as time, a harmony I had thought that I had forgotten and yet had returned with such ease the moment I held a hammer in my hand once again. It was once said that you could take the dwarf out of the forge, but you couldn't take the forge out of the dwarf. The observation seemed true enough, for I certainly felt as if I had never stepped away from a forge at all - as if it had been only yesterday since I had last felt the heat against my skin. When I had woken up in this world, I had thought this would be a pleasure from my past forever beyond my reach.

Then Amber had given me this forge, as a proposal gift no less. What had I ever done to deserve a partner like her?

A grunt left me as I twisted my head to examine the sketch book I had left open on the table to my side, eyes checking the sprawling designs I had scrawled down the moment that Amber had left for the day. I still felt a design such as the one I had just dreamed up would be a challenge even for me. The delicate flowers I planned to create over the next few hours would be fiddly to twist into shape with my large fingers, but I would not settle for any less. This was a proposal gift, it was supposed to be a display of my craftsmanship.

My eyes turned back to the gleaming metal that I was currently working on, the metal clamps I held in my right hand twisting the hot metal this way and that as I judged the thickness with a critical eye. The mithril I had salvaged from my pauldron had not been easy to reshape, the small forge not quiet hot enough to completely melt the stubborn metal down, but at least had made it malleable enough that I could thin it down and pare off long strips for my use. As difficult as that had been, it was the straightforward part of this entire process because now would come the long hours of up close fiddly work.

I ran my soot covered hand through my hair, cursing as the fingers caught in stubborn tangles and reminding me it was long past time that I did some upkeep of my braids. It would have once been something a close family member would have helped me with at one time, with no family I had tried my best to keep myself presentable, but I just couldn't reach the back of my head that well. Now that Amber was my family, I could ask her to help me with this because I would not allow myself to go to a meeting of her family looking like I'd been dragged by my hair through the whole of Erebor.

The festive season was drawing nearer, bringing with it a whole new set of situations I had to deal with, but at least I now felt better equipped to deal with them.

The small hammer tap-taped away at the metal as I carefully twisted it into shape, forming the end 'eyelet' of this section of chain that would allow me to attach it to another when the time came to finally put all the parts together. Each chain link would have a curved eyelet at one end, the main body of the section curving in a tightly closed 's' shape that would be twisted up into a small flower. Another chain would be then be attached to the prior just under the flowering section of the first. My shoulders shifted to ease the growing tension that was settling between. This was a pain I could cope with because it at least disguised the ache of my soul reaching out for Amber.

As I worked, time lost all meaning, my mind completely focused on the song of my hammer and the feel of the metal beneath my fingers. I was completely in my element, and while I was no master of my craft, I still knew that my work would put human blacksmiths to shame. The only race that had ever come close to matching the skill of our people had been the elves, and it made me wonder whatever happened to the other races of middle earth over the years. Elves had been slowly fading from the world when I had left it. Perhaps by now they would have completely taken their leave of the mortal realm to go live in the grey havens.

Elves, I had never much liked them, and that opinion had only gotten worse after Thranduil had trapped me and the rest of the company in his dungeons. I had been brought up in the mountains, used to the dark confines of the twisting hallways, but those dungeons had been no mountain home. They had been damp, cold, and entirely soul destroying. The elves could go rot in the gray havens for all I cared, middle earth was a better place without them and there would now be less competition for our wares. It still caught me by surprise that I continued to think of Middle Earth as if I was a part of it, and those thoughts had only become more regular over the last day or so.

This was my home now, I was comfortable here. But I also missed my ancestral home, so it was only natural to have bouts of homesickness.

My fingers reached for the next ingot of metal, my eyes briefly checking my designs and letting a sigh part my lips as I realised I had come to the most important part of the entire process. A flurry of nerves making themselves known right in the pit of my stomach as I examined the flattened oval I had specially crafted to carry a very special rune. I had been taught how to cast runes onto my works, what every step of that process looked like, but I had never actually had the chance to put that learning into practice.

Would I even be able to cast a rune in this world? I continued to twist the metal back and forth in my fingers, reaching deep within me for that ancient magic and preparing myself to be disappointed. This world had taken everything else from me, had almost expected that it had taken that magic with it too, and found myself mildly surprised at the tingling sensation in my fingers as it awoke within me.

A deep breath was taken in as I prepared myself physically and mentally.

A typical rune wouldn't take much from its caster, but this was no normal rune - I would have to make a real sacrifice for it. The initial shape of the rune was carefully marked onto the flat surface of the metal with charcoal, my eyes checking every line as it was placed. This rune would represent what I wanted out of our marriage, to spend many happy long years with her by my side ... and if I had to give up almost ninety years of my life to achieve that, then so be it! I would rather live a hundred years with her by my side, then a hundred on my own, a shell of a man I had once been. Another deep breath was taken in as I focused on that burning desire in my heart, fanning that flame within me in much the same way I would carefully tend the forge into roaring heat.

My fingers reached for the small pointed chisel I would use to create the indentations in the metal, carefully heating the thin mithril in the heat of the forge for a brief second, and then tapping the first line of the rune into the now malleable surface. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, a slow shiver taking over my entire body at the palpable sensation of thick magic hanging in the air. I couldn't afford to be distracted by it, I only got one chance at this. I refocused my attentions on making sure I kept that deep smoulder flame within my heart alive, a deep breath taken in as I pushed out those external distractions and solely focused on the next section of the rune that I would stamp. Each tap of my hammer against the chisel rang in the air, and my muscles quaking at the physical effort of sending that energy into the rune.

Everything swayed around me as each progressive line was stamped into the metal, the rune slowly coming to life right before my eyes - my fingers shaking as one last line was etched into the metal and the whole design finally came together. The ancestral signet of my family line, and yet it wasn't exactly like the signet I had once claimed as my own. I had rearranged some of those lines to incorporate her initials into the design. This was not just my signet anymore, it was our signet - a powerful symbol that would now represent our union as a couple. My right hand held to the table, struggling to keep my body weight upright as I mentally focused on that build of magical energy within me, and then placed my free hand around the metal.

I was vaguely aware of the sound of my voice as I spoke the name of the rune aloud - the ancient Khazdul word seeming both very far away and yet startlingly loud all at the same time as I focused every bit of that fire and passion into the lines I had carefully formed into the metal.

The edges of my vision darkened as that energy left me in a sudden flurry, my breath coming in slight gasps as I attempted to keep myself upright, but it was all in vain as the world was already closing in around me and the last thing I remembered was falling into a heavy heap on the hard floor.

_\--==--_

"Fili, "

A concerned voice drifted through my thoughts, the heavy sensation of my head making itself known as I slowly became aware of reality once again. The feeling of a cool hand was pressed to my flushed skin, bringing with it a long ago memory of when I had first woken in this world. I let out a low groan as I forced my eyes open, my gaze taking in the panicked expression and the pale skin of Amber's face. The pale light of the room caused the tears on her face to glimmer in the light, revealing to my still fuzzy brain that she had been crying. A pained but relieved laugh left her as her forehead was softly pressed to mine.

"Oh thank god, I was so worried. I was at work ... and I couldn't feel you any more, and ..."

She trailed off if she didn't dare to speak the words. A heavy arm that still didn't entirely feel like it belonged to me was lifted from the ground to wrap around her body, feeling terribly guilty that I had worried her so greatly. I took in a shaking breath as I tried to summon up the energy to push my body up from the ground, but found myself utterly spent - I'd put everything I had into the rune and was pretty sure that it would take me a few days just to recover from my efforts. My nose was nuzzled to hers, about the only thing I still had the energy for right now.

"I am sorry that I worried you. I may have put a bit more energy into your gift then I planned for."

Amber helped me to an upright seated position, the struggle on her face as she fought against my dead weight very clear, and I had to bite back another pained moan as the world spun around me once again. I could feel the amused shake of her head as she adjusted to a kneeling position beside me, one arm still holding me steady as I waited for the dizziness to pass, and I was glad that the world was feeling a little more like I was part of it again. I didn't think Amber could have done much to stop me falling back to the floor if my body decided it was going to pass out again.

"Jesus Christ, I know that I gave you a forge, but there was no need to outdo me. I do not want to rush home from work and find you passed out on the floor ever again. Have I made myself perfectly clear?."

I accepted her angry words with humble grace, after all it was completely deserved given what I had just put her through.

"Perfectly my love. You need not worry, I will not be casting any runes again."

Her head shifting to look at me, her face still pale from her shook and a look in her eyes that was a mix of slowly fading distress and genuine curiosity.

"You cast a rune? With magic?"

I didn't blame her for being a tad disbelieving given we'd both long thought magic to be absent in this world. A low laugh left me as I ran a hand through my hair, feeling disgustingly grimy now that I had been passed out on the soot stained floor of the forge for Mahal knows how long. Once I finally summoned up the energy to get onto my feet, I would have to take a shower, but that was only if I got off the floor first. I reached up for the edge of the nearby workbench, using its stability to struggle back upright and holding to it tight as the world once again swayed in a sickening reminder that I had to take things slow for a bit.

"I was surprised too, I would have thought that had been torn from me when I came to this world, but I guess you can't remove the old magics from the dwarves that easily."

My eyes drifted to the necklace that laid on the table, the mithril shining brilliantly in the artificial glow of the light above, and couldn't help but feel immensely proud of my finished work. The carefully intertwined links of metal and shimmering petals of the flowers so delicate that I doubted even an elf could match such craftsmanship. A wider smile formed on my lips as my eyes drifted to the oval plate of metal that hung right in the center of the chain, the lines of the signet seeming to glow a very faint emerald in the light - a sign that the metal had accepted the magics I had put in it.

"Yes, I know that you needed nothing special. But, it's tradition to display our smithing prowess to our prospective wives, to show we have the skill to provide for both them and our children if they are blessed enough to have them."

I tilted my head for her to come and look. Amber moved cautiously toward the table, a low gasp leaving her as her eyes dipped down to look at the results of two days of physical labour. Her fingers trailed cautiously over the chains of the necklace and came to a halt just before she reached the rune. Her eyes widening as she looked back up at me. To the casual eyes there was nothing to show that this was nothing more than a normal necklace, but to the physical touch and a practiced eye the magic was very much alive. Even a human from a world utterly devoid of magic could feel the energies this rune emitted, and I watched as her hand drew back slightly as if she wasn't sure that she could actually touch that part of the necklace yet.

"That's magic? Does it hurt?"

No wonder she was cautious, no doubt to the uninitiated such physically present magic might feel like it would hurt if you touched it.

"This was cast out of love and desire to spend my life with you. It will not physically harm you, for that is not it's intent. However, I want you to think carefully before you decide to accept such a gift. I gave up part of my life's energy so that the spell will give you more time by my side, you will have to watch family members much younger than yourself wither and die long before you."

Amber's eyes remained on the necklace, a thoughtful look on her face as she contemplated my words. While there was no guarantee how long we both now had, we still had to at least have a hundred and twenty years of long life together provided she accepted my gift. This would not be an easy gift for her to accept. While it didn't physically hurt, the emotional pain would still be very real and difficult to face for someone that had once accepted they would likely die in their late eighties if life was favourable to them. Those sad eyes turned to me, her hand moving to rest over my heart and I slightly leaned into her touch - glad for the warmth it provided me given I still didn't feel entirely like myself yet.

"The ... emptiness I felt today ... is that how you will feel when I die?"

I didn't want to answer, didn't want her to feel like I was forcing her into taking a gift just to lessen my own pains, but also knowing that I had to be honest with her. My head slowly nodded an affirmative, my hand lifting to rest over her own and wrapping my fingers around hers.

"Whatever choice you make, I will stand by you and treasure whatever time we have together - even if that time should be short."

My voice broke despite my desire not to let that emotion show. The thought of being without her was always going to be a painful one, but I couldn't force her to take my gift either. If she decided that she couldn't bear the thought of burying her nieces and nephews, then I had to accept that. I had given a part of my life knowing that she might not want this, had taken that chance anyway and always would do. There was some comfort to be found because if she did not accept it then it would be ninety fewer years of constant pain. Amber looked to the necklace back to me and then back to the necklace again as a look of resolve settled onto her face.

"That kind of grief was always going to be a part of my life. I was always going to watch someone die ... but, I think that as long as you are by my side then I will get though it."

She turned and slipped her hand from mine, took the necklace into her hands and carefully placed it around her neck. A very visible shiver traversed her body, her eyes closing, and I reached out to put a steadying hand on her shoulder as she swayed slightly to one side. Her lips were parted as a peal of shocked laughter left her, one hand still resting over the necklace and wide eyes looking back up at me as if completely overwhelmed.

"Fuck me, now that was a rush."

Her expressions always amused me, my head shaking as I moved to wrap her up into my arms beyond content thHer expressions always amused me, my head shaking as I moved to wrap her up into my arms beyond content that she had accepted my proposal gift.

"If I wasn't so tired, I might take you up on that offer."

Another laugh left her, this one more light-hearted as she patted my chest twice in the same way she always did when playfully responding to my flirtatious advances. I planted a soft kiss to her forehead, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and to sleep for a week solid. Her eyes narrowed every so slightly as she looked at me from under her lashes, that smile taking a more distinctively playful edge.

"Now, now, my dear. Whoever said anything about you having to be the top?"

Oh dear Mahal, the woman would be the death of me one day, but at least I would die a happy she had accepted my proposal gift.


	12. Christmas Trees and Language Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on 'TheHobbitLover061014's cute idea of Amber singing "All I Want for Christmas, is You" to Fili ....  
> And well, things end in a smutty language lesson
> 
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to be putting this on Hiatus for a week or so. 
> 
> Work and Chronic pain have teamed up on me real hard and I've hit a massive writers block as a result. 
> 
> ++ Translations ++
> 
> ég elska þig” - I love you  
> þú hefur verið að hlusta og læra - you have been listening, and learning  
> Takk - Please  
> Hægt - Slow

#  Amber POV

I let out a low grunt as I pulled the large box into the living room, hands resting on my hips as I dropped it into place and examined the packaging of my Christmas tree with a smile on my face

“You know, I could have helped with that if you asked.”

The sound of Fili’s voice from the kitchen drew my attention, my head tilting as I took in the dwarf’s get up and unable to help the amused smile that crossed my face. His blonde hair was pulled into an exceptionally messy bun at the nape of his neck, a few wayward braids had escaped the confines of the hair bobble he had pinched from me earlier, and where not bobbing around his neck in such a way that his silvered beads reflected the twinkling fairy lights I’d already hung along the top of the extractor fan. The sleeves of his exceedingly ugly Christmas jumper were rolled up to his elbows, giving me a quick peek of his muscular forearms that were covered in white flour, and I let out an indulgent sigh at how utterly at ease he looked in my kitchen. If only his uncle could have seen him now, with that wide smile on his face and utterly happy in his domestic bliss. 

“You wanted to make your mother’s cookies, remember. Besides its just a Christmas Tree, I am sure I can slay this mighty beast,”

He nodded slightly, grunting as he reached over for the jug of milk beside him and poured a little more of it into his mixture. 

“I would expect nothing less from my wife to be.”

Fili gave me one of those winks of his that caused my stomach to flip inside out in desire and I had to shake my head to keep my thoughts going any further down that avenue because I’d never get the tree up if I allowed him to seduce me any more today. 

The top of the box was pulled open, revealing a mass of dark green plastic to my eyes and I shook my head as I plunged my hand down into the side of the box in search of the metal base that I had stashed within it the previous year. No matter what I did, the darned thing would migrate to somewhere else, as if it had a life of its own and quite enjoyed having me ferret around among the itchy fake pine tree to find it. A sound of victory left me as I pulled it out, unfolding the metal and plopping it down in the Livingroom's corner before returning to the box and wrapping my arms around the largest section of the tree so that I could drag it from its long hibernation in the box.

Green shards of plastic littered my floor, my tongue clicking against the top of my mouth in annoyance, and wondered why my mother would claim that plastic trees were cleaner than real ones - both seemed to shed all over the damned carpet no matter what you did. The base of the tree was slotted onto the base with ease, and the branches lowered into place so that I could start adjusting the smaller branches into position so at it would look just a little fuller. A low snort of amusement from the kitchen told me that Fili was still watching my progress, and the male’s voice soon reached my ears.

“That looks like a lot of effort for one tree. Why not get a real one?”

“Because I can’t just go out and cut down any old tree Fili, I’d have to go to a dedicated tree farm, and it’s not like I have a car to transport such a thing around.”

I turned my head to look back at the dwarf who still had a lifted brow, as if digesting this new information that I had given him, and he shook his head slightly as if he still didn’t quite understand why he couldn’t just go out into the street and cut one of those trees down. He was from a time where he could just walk from his home, cut down a tree, and nobody would have cared that he’d done such a thing. Ahh how simple his life must have been, and yet incredibly difficult at the same time given the time that he’d grown up in.

My shoulders were shifted restlessly as I returned to the box, pulling out the second portion of the tree and hefting up to slot that into place. My mother would have looked at my tree, scowled at it, and proclaimed it to be way too small for such a ‘proper’ tree. To me it was perfect height, just ever so slightly taller than the reach of my arm, and I grinned at the sight of it even if it wasn’t fully ‘fluffed’ out yet. I don’t think my mother had ever considered that until now I had lived alone and might like to put the star on the top without having to get a stool out. A grunt left me as I reached for my phone, foot tapping slightly as I opened up my music app and played the first Christmas song that appeared on the list. 

“Must you?”

Fili’s grumbled tone made me laugh. The dwarf still wasn’t entirely used to my technology and had developed an obvious distaste for modern music that was just random noise to him. 

“It’s tradition to play Christmas songs when you decorate the tree, Fili. Besides, you need to get used to this before we visit my family for Christmas Day. My mother will force my brother to play songs the whole day.” 

I hummed to myself in amusement at the argument that had ensued last Christmas between my mother and my father, my mother had been hoarding the remote all day loudly proclaiming that the only way to do Christmas correctly was to listen to festive songs the whole time. My father had countered that the only proper tradition was to put on television, get out the whiskey and watch Die Hard while taking a large shot every time one of the bad guys got killed ... which usually meant we’d all be pretty drunk by the time he insisted we played party games. Poor Fili was going to be in for a hell of a culture shock despite me trying to prepare him ahead of time for it. 

The dwarf shook his head, sending his braids bobbing around his head once more than he pulled over a baking tray to roll out his cookies. I had to admit they smelt positively divine, a heady scent of cardamon, allspice, and cinnamon reaching my nose, and I was sure that I was positively drooling. If all dwarven cooking was like this, I was pretty sure I’d be positively plump by the time Christmas was over and I made a mental reminder to myself that I needed to sign us both up for a Gym membership in the new year - Mahal knows we’d need it. My attention turned back to the tree as I refocused my efforts so that it looked more like a tree, and less like an anemic stick, the soft sounds of my favourite Christmas song making itself known. I never could resist singing along to ‘all I want for Christmas’ it was practically a done thing to belt out that tune at the top of your lungs whenever you heard it.

“I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I needI don’t care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree,

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you, yeah

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

And I don’t care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree,

I don’t need to hang my stocking

There upon the fireplace

Santa Claus won’t make me happy

With a toy on Christmas Day

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

You, baby

Oh, I won’t ask for much this Christmas

I won’t even wish for snow

And I’m just gonna keep on waiting

Underneath the mistletoe

I won’t make a list and send it

To the North Pole for Saint Nick

I won’t even stay awake to

Hear those magic reindeer click

’Cause I just want you here tonight

Holding on to me so tight

What more can I do?

Baby, all I want for Christmas is you

You, baby

Oh, all the lights are shining so brightly everywhere

And the sound of children’s laughter fills the air

And everyone is singing

I hear those sleigh bells ringing

Santa, won’t you bring me the one I really need?

Won’t you please bring my baby to me?

Oh, I don’t want a lot for Christmas

This is all I’m asking for

I just wanna see my baby

Standing right outside my door

Oh, I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby, all I want for Christmas... is you

You, baby

All I want for Christmas is you, baby

All I want for Christmas is you, baby

All I want for Christmas is you, baby

All I want for Christmas is you, baby

All I want for Christmas is you, baby.”

A pair of warm arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me in against a firm torso, and I let out a giggle as a slow breath was exhaled against the side of my neck as Fili nuzzled in against me. It was so easy to forget just how quietly he could move around my house when he wanted to, who would have thought that dwarves could be positively sneaky - I certainly would never have guessed it. My lips parted in despair as a flour coated hand was trailed up my side, one of my own hands trying to swat the playful dwarf away, but not really wanting him to go away. I enjoyed the attention, although he was leaving hand prints all over my nice clean shirt.

“Now this song, this song I like.”

“Your such a sappy romantic, you know that right.” 

A husky rumble made itself known as his lips pressed in against the underside of my ear, and I bit back a moan because if he knew he was turning me on, I’d never finish with the tree. 

“Guilty as charged.”

I twisted my body around in his warm embrace, wrapping both arms around his neck, and allowed my forehead to rest against his own. In his world this would have been a regular greeting among his kin, one where they would have bashed their skulls together, and chuckled as if nothing had ever happened. In my home it had become something tender and loving, a moment that I could look into his sparkling eyes. Had he looked this happy when he’d first arrived? No, he hadn’t. He’d been a world-weary and broken soul that had been absolutely grieved to be away from his family - I let out a slow sigh as I swayed, just enjoying this moment even if I wasn’t fully listening to the music on the radio anymore. 

“Do you miss them? Your clan.” 

Fili closed his eyes for a moment, his lips twisting ever so slightly as I brought up that painful memory. 

“I miss the times that we spent together, and the memories that we built in Ered Luin as a family. It was tough to rebuild after losing Erebor, but we had each other and there were many happy moments spent together as a clan - especially on Durin’s Day. Would I go back if given a chance? No, not even if there was an option to take you with me to Middle Earth. Dwarven women have much more independence than any other female in my world, but they are still sorely repressed compared to the freedoms you enjoy in this world. As your One I just want you see you smile and be content - not sad and stifled by a society you would never feel welcome in.”

That he wouldn’t want to go back to Middle Earth even if I could have gone with him surprised me. In that world he’d had everything he’d ever wanted, and yet he was perfectly happy to walk away from that just to be with me in a modern society that still must be so alien to him. 

“I want you to smile and be content too ... it has been so hard to watch you struggle to fit in over the last month or so, and there is still yet you have to learn.” 

One of his warm hands moved to rest in the middle of my back, pulling me closer to his body and I wished I could just melt into him for he was felt so warm and safe. A haven from whatever stresses the world could throw at me, and someone that I could always rely on to be a rock of support whenever I needed it. 

“Yes. This has been a difficult transition for me, but as each day passes, I flow into a routine of familiarity that binds me to this world just a little more. I enjoy my time in the kitchen putting my skills as a chef to the test which has been most refreshing for me as it’s not considered a Princely pursuit, and the smithy has given me a tie to my past that helps with making me feel more at home. The only thing I could ever want in my life, is here in my arms, and as long as you are happy and healthy, that is more than enough for me.”

What had I ever done in my life to deserve someone that will go through such troubles just to keep me happy - until he had come along it had been a catastrophe of errors inter-spaced with great sadness and loneliness? Now my home was full of love and warmth, a place I could not wait to rush home to at the end of my shift, much to the amusement of my coworkers. They’d long ago cottoned on that I had a new partner and had been gushing about how in love I was and how delighted they were that I’d finally found someone that made me happy. I’d not told anyone yet that I was betrothed to Fili, had been sitting on that fact as I wanted to tell my family first before I told anyone else. 

“You keep on like this and I’ll be begging you to wife me up before the end of the year.” 

Fili laughed in amusement at my statement, his amusement of the modern ‘lingo’ making itself known as he moved to trail sultry kisses along the edge of my collarbone and sending a heated shiver through my entire body.

“And what would be so wrong with that?”

“We’ve not even been engaged a month yet, dearest, and my family would likely be more than a little concerned at the idea of me jumping in at the deep end with an unfamiliar man given my previous relationship. I want to give them a few months where they can get to know you and see that your a caring man that is totally in love with me and not about to run off with some random bit of skirt.” 

He let out an almost inaudible sound, his head shaking against the nook of my neck and muttering a few words of Khazdul to himself. Fili had said that he would start teaching me to talk the language of his people soon, desperate to hear a voice other than his own speaking it, but I was already picking up a few words of endearment purely base on how frequently I was being exposed to such words.

“ég elska þig”

Fili sounded positively melodic when he spoke in his language, where I felt like I was absolutely butchering the vowel sounds, but I felt proud of myself for at least trying. His arms wrapped tighter around my body, though he was always very aware that I was not as sturdy as his kin, and thus he had to be careful to not squash my smaller form. 

“þú hefur verið að hlusta og læra”

The way he trilled his ‘R’s against the lobe of my ear was positively magical, thought I wasn’t sure what he had said to me. The only word I recognised out of that entire sentence was ‘listening’ since that was another word that cropped up often in our conversations. 

“I’ve been picking up a few words, how can I not when you speak in your language so often?” 

His rough fingers slipped under my shirt, trailing a line along the sensitive side of my side and leaving a fiery trail of desire in their wake. Why was it every time I did something I just ended up getting seduced by him despite my best intentions not to get distracted? I lifted a hand to press right in the middle of his sternum, earning a grumbled sound of dissatisfaction from the male as I tried to untangle myself from his strong arms, and I found myself once again softly giggling though it was more at his boyish grumpiness than the sensation of his beard on my skin. 

“Don’t forget your cookies, I would hate for them to get burnt.” 

A hot spike of arousal formed right in the pit of my stomach as he trailed that hand further up my back, pulling the shirt with it and leaving my skin exposed to the cooler air of the room that did nothing to dampen my growing ardour for him. 

“They take an hour to bake - more than enough time to teach you a few extra words.” 

“Your incorrigible, you know that right.”

The tree could wait. It wasn’t like it was going anywhere and I knew that walking away from him once he’d roused my need for him would just leave me unable to concentrate, anyway. The hand that rested on his chest lowered to pull at his flour dusted shirt, tugging it up over his head and rolling my eyes slightly at the sight of his bare chest underneath that jumper.

“For Mahal’s sake ... do you ever wear any of those tank tops I got you?” 

A low snort left his nose, the warm air tickling against my shoulder blade as I shrugged out of my shirt, and shivering under his heated gaze as he pulled back to watch me from behind those thick lashes of his. 

“I don’t like too many layers remember, this world is a lot warmer then my own and you insist on putting on the heating an awful lot now it’s winter ... besides, I thought you enjoyed looking at my body.”

I clucked my tongue against the top of my mouth at his flirtatious words, knowing that he had trapped me in a logic bomb there, and shrugged my shoulders just a little as I let my eyes roam the expanse of his muscular chest even as one finger traced the line of his taut pectorals.

“You do have a habit of flaunting it about. A woman can’t help but admire when there is a bit of eye candy on display in her kitchen.” 

Conversation became a thing of the past as his lips were pressed to mine in a deeply passionate kiss, the thick pads of his fingers running over my scalp and then entangling in my hair. It was so easy to get lost in the feeling of him, especially once his tongue slipped past my lips and started that familiar battle for dominance. My heart was dancing a merry song beneath my ribs by the time the last vestiges of our clothing dropped to the floor, and the cool sensation of the wall made itself known against my back. 

How I’d gotten there I didn’t particularly know and didn’t particularly care. My body ached with arousal and I needed to feel him inside me. A pair of stop arms lifted me as if I barely weighed anything at all, both my legs wrapping around his hips for support and arching up against his hard length in silent beggence to be sated. Those warm lips of his parted from mine, tracing open-mouthed kisses along my jaw and down to my breast where he continued that tortuous attention of my body that left me panting in sheer sexual frustration.

“Fili, please.”

His laughter was thick against my skin, the pads of one thumb rubbing just close enough to my clit to torment me but not close enough that it provided any release from that growing pit of desire. 

“The word you are looking for is, Takk”

Well, I couldn’t claim to not be enjoying this language lesson - it certainly made things a lot more interesting than that one time I tried to learn German. A low whimper left my lips as I lifted a hand to wrap into the hair at the nape of his neck, rolling my hips against his own and letting out a shuddering moan at the thought that he was so close to my center and yet still too far away for my tastes at that current moment. 

“Fili, takk” 

The warm sensation of his tongue made itself known against my skin, tracing a slow line along my collar bone even as he finally gave me some small blessed relief and slid his length within me, leaving me feeling warm and full. A low rumbling moan left him as he guided my hips into a slow and seductive pace with his own, Fili always found great enjoyment in taking his time with me, and had once likened it to stoking the fires in his forge. You would never create a strong flame if you rushed building that fire - the best ones you carefully tended to and built up steadily to an inferno. 

“Hægt”

The rumbling vowels of that next word brushed against my shoulder, the faint sensation of his teeth trailing over my skin leaving me groaning in passionate abandon, a sound that trailed out to a tormented whisper even as he slowed that already tormenting pace to teach me the meaning of that word. I wasn’t sure that I could take much more of this as much as I was enjoying the lesson, that arousal that he’d built was becoming near unbearable, and I would have made that urgent desire for release known if he wasn’t holding so firmly to my hips. 

“Takk”

Fili let out an indistinct sound of approval as he just gave in to his own building desires, the hand that had held so firmly to my hip lowering further down to my read and tilting just enough that each thrust would hit that spot deep inside. I always knew when he was close to his own climax, he would always lose track of that part of his brain that would urge him to be gentle with me, and just completely devolve to that rougher dwarven part of his psyche. The sound of his own moaned voice joined my own as our dance became quicker and more urgent, his powerful thrusts soon sending me tumbling hard over the edge of my climax with him not that far behind. 

“Now that ... was a lesson.”

All I could do was chuckle in sleepy amusement as I rested against his sweat drenched torso, utterly spent and shaking my head in utter amusement that he could still make me feel like a floppy rag doll every time we made love.


	13. Business and Pleasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got some creative juices going, and will be going with this cute like 'double date' idea into next chapter before we get to the crazy shenanigans of Christmas.
> 
> I'm dropping some pretty major hints to an eventual plot for this cute little fic, see if you can guess what it'll be 
> 
> **intense plotting commences**

# Fili POV

My fingers clung to the thin wooden shaft of my pencil, drawing effortless lines over a smooth sheet of paper, and letting out a thoughtful breath of air as I examined the rough drawing with a critical eye. I’d been holed up in my smithy for the better part of a day now, fretting over the smallest details of my latest project, and frustrating myself no ends by feeling like the design would never be good enough. One of Amber’s work colleges had found out about my business a week ago and had commissioned me to make an engagement ring for his future wife, but it was not that project that was currently causing my headache - I’d already finished the initial designs and had the man in question had already signed off on them so that I could start the smelting and smithing process tomorrow.

No, it was the design of an engagement ring for Amber that was currently frustrating me to no end. I’d started this design the moment I had learned about the human custom of ‘getting engaged’, and must have crumpled up at least six different designs over the last hour. Her dwarven betrothal gift had come so easily to my mind, had spilled out of my thoughts in less than an hour, and yet one simple ring had completely stumped me.

Thick fingers ran through my hair as I allowed my body to relax back into my chair, grumbling in the knowledge that my hair would be black with soot by the end of the day if I kept this up, and trying to figure out why I couldn’t settle on a design. Perhaps it was the knowledge that other humans would know what this ring meant, and thus I wanted them to see just how much I loved and adored her. Or maybe it was the fact that I was becoming a complete and utter perfectionist now that I had started my business. I might not have any actual competition here when it came to skill and the quality of my work, but that didn’t mean that I should allow my high standards to drop. The day I stopped caring about my craft would be the day I put my hammer down for good.

The familiar growing of warmth in my chest was all the warning I needed to cover the designs before my intended walked into the smithy, my fingers grabbing another sheet of paper covered with drawings of elaborate bracelets I’d been working on the day before, and turned my head to watch as Amber entered the room with two steaming mugs in her hands and a look of amusement on her face as she set one of those mugs in front of me.

“You’ve been staring at those same designs for two days now dear, just choose one. Honestly, my mother isn’t that picky with jewellery, and she’d be happy with even one of your simplest designs.”

I let out a part laugh of amusement as I picked up my mug, taking in the invigorating scent of the strong coffee she had brewed for me, and stretched my legs under the table as I took this opportunity to relax for a moment.

“I am a dwarf of Erebor, my love, we don’t do simple.”

Her slim body moved to lean against the table, leaning over to examine the designs that I’d drawn on the paper, and I tried not to get over paranoid that she might move the paper and see what I was actually working on. Trying to keep a secret from someone that shared part of your soul with you was insanely difficult, and I was beyond grateful that I was working on so many projects at once right now - it meant that I had a wall of distracting thoughts to use as a shield. Amber tilted her head, lips pursed as she examined the different designs with a critical eye and then tapped her finger on the drawing of a bracelet that had a border of interlacing geometric lines.

“Then go with this one. It would fit in perfectly with some of the other jewellery she owns.”

The coffee was warm and bitter against my tongue as I took a sip, shifting forward in my chair to get a better look at the design she had suggested, and then nodded my head. It might well have been one of the simpler designs on the page, but it would still take hours of tedious work to make the mould for the initial pouring of the silver. Sometimes I missed working with mithril, the hardy metal of my folk could take a lot more punishment than these softer metals, but I preferred to keep what little mithril was left in my pauldron to make gifts for Amber. I let out a thoughtful grunt, blowing air over the warm liquid in my mug, and nodded my head in approval.

“Then I shall trust your judgement and go with that design. It seems most in keeping with the styles that humans of this world prefer. I’ve been thinking of making some adjustments in the new year and dropping out some jewellery with more Dwarven symbolism.”

Amber let out an indistinct sound of disapproval as she leaned back once more, watching me from under her lashes as she sipped at her coffee and made a slight backward tip of her head toward the main part of the house.

“I think you should keep them, especially given the fact we’ve had a massive order come in a couple of minutes ago from that re-enactment group for your raven broaches. It’s the primary reasons I am in here ... you know I hate disturbing you when your busy.”

I remembered Amber mentioning the group sometime towards the end of October, she’d been excitedly talking about some mid-winter’s feast event they were putting on in one of the local fields. She’d wanted to go, had been excitedly chatting about it for some time, but had covered for a sick co-worker that weekend instead. I knew she had been deeply disappointed, but ultimately she knew that extra income was more important during a time where my business had only just started receiving orders. My eyes drifted to the one of the boxes in the smithy's corner where I was currently keeping items I’d produced on mass and sucked slightly on my lower lip as I realised that at some point I’d need somewhere to store things.

“Is it that Viking group you where talking about last month? Because if it is, then I am sure that a discount can be arranged for any future order they wish to make, Mahal knows I could do with some good repeat custom.”

Back in middle earth I’d never had to worry that much about money, had been living a rather cushy life as a prince of the realm, and now I looked back on it I had taken for granted how blessed my life had been. I’d never had to worry about putting food on the table, had never had to worry about how I would provide for my future family, and certainly had never worried about if I could afford to retire. Not that dwarves ever got lucky enough to retire in middle-earth, the preferred way to leave the mortal coil was in battle while taking down a few of the enemy with you.

I certainly had no intentions of going through that again. Once was more than enough, and I was determined that my new life would be one filled with comfort and happy memories.

“I’ll arrange for them to get twenty percent off. I wouldn’t normally undercut the value of your work that heavily, but they have had a pretty bad go of things over the last three years. The man that used to be in charge of the group died suddenly, and while they’ve done well to hold the whole thing together, no one’s taken the reins and the events are a lot more chaotic now. It’s why I wanted to go so badly this year, wanted to go see it before it got worse or they decide to stop doing the events all together.”

My heart ached at Amber’s words. I’d not been around to see the immediate fallout of the loss of Erebor, had been born in a time of relative calm, but I was still very much aware of how great an affect the loss of a strong leader could have on a population. This group was doing much the same as the dwarves of Erebor had once done, scrambling to hold on to some form of normality and hoping that better times will come once the darkness had faded.

“Make it thirty percent.”

She gave me a warm smile, her foot tapping affectionately into the side of my ankle in a rather flirtatious manner as she sipped at her coffee.

“Your feeling rather charitable today.”

“What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for people that are going through troubled times.”  
Thirty percent was a lot given that my profit margins on silver goods were already very slim, but I felt it was worth taking the hit for a good cause. No doubt the group would want to sell on some broaches at whatever event they had next on their calendar, and it would no doubt help their own profit margins during a time that things were not going that well.

“You would have made a good King under the Mountain, you know that right?”

I scoffed at her words, reaching forward to hook my free arm around her waist and pulling her in against my side as she made a startled complaint about not wanting to spill her coffee all over her clean shirt.

“I’ll have you know I am still a King, even if I have no mountain.”

She laughed lightly, sliding her weight over slightly so that she was sat on the arm of the chair, and casually ran her long fingers through my soot stained hair with an inaudible sound of content.

“In that case I would like to remind the King to not get too enraptured in his work, for we agreed to go on a double date with my sister tonight ... she’s been most vocal about wanting to meet you before Christmas, and to show off this ‘total hottie’ she met last week.”

Amber rolled her eyes ever so slightly, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her faint annoyance of her sister’s antics. I’d not yet met the woman, but had been around long enough to know that her relationships never seemed to last that long - this had been the second new partner I had heard of in as many months. I let out a low grumble as I nested my head in against my betrothed’s shoulder, eyes lowering to muse over the remains of my coffee and unable to express my utter bewilderment of her modern use of language.

“And what exactly is a ‘total hottie’?”

I could feel Amber shaking her head in amusement even though I couldn’t quite see her make such a movement given my comfortable resting spot against her side.

“It’s a rather annoying expression used by some women to describe tall, dark and handsome men that they are attracted to. I think you’d find a lot of woman out there there would heartily agree that you fall into such a category.”

My lips pursed as I let out a half-snort of annoyance. I’d spent so much time with my more classically handsome brother and uncle that I sometimes forgot that I could also be very attractive in my own right. I turned my head to nestle my nose in against the underside of her jaw, taking in the soft floral scent of the perfume she was wearing today, and placing a lingering kiss to her warm skin of her neck. 

“I’d hate to disappoint such ardent admirers, but alas, this king is already taken.”

Her free hand playfully swatted against my chest, a familiar gesture that she always used to let me know I was getting her all hot and bothered when she would rather not get too distracted. I chuckled against her skin, enjoying the way she shivered in arousal beneath my touch, and then let her free of my arms. As much as I enjoyed tormenting her and watching her reactions to my attentions, I knew it would not serve me at all well to continually distract her from other things - the last thing I wanted was to be in her bad graces for the afternoon. Amber fixed me with a heated gaze as she took my mug from my hands, those eyes of hers moving to my hair and letting out a low sound of amusement at the state of it. 

“I’ll have a go at sorting out some of those braids for you once you’ve showered, some of them have gotten into a right state.”

Amber had been tackling the braids one-by-one over the past few weeks, carefully studying the braiding styles and spending long hours practicing on her own hair before even attempting to pick them apart. A long year on the open road, and then a further two months with no form of grooming had meant that some had matted beyond repair and I still didn’t know if Amber could save them or not. I hoped she could; the braids were one of the last things that I still wore that tied me to my dwarven culture, and I’d hate to lose any more of them. I let out a slow breath as I gathered some paperwork that was strewn over my desk and gave the woman a half nod of my head.

“I’ll be finished shortly, I’ve been in here enough this week and I’m in sore need of a break.”

Her lips pressed to my forehead all too briefly, soft against my skin, and then she walked from the room whistling merrily to herself. I recognised the tune as being one of those festive songs that I’d heard her playing recently on her radio, but had neither the memory nor the care to remember what the song had been called. She’d been slowly exposing me to modern music, and there had been very few songs and music genres that my ‘old’ ears had actually liked. Perhaps in the spring once my work orders had slowed down I could craft a harp for myself, I was no Thorin but I could still play fairly well and had a decent enough voice that I could at least fill my home with some familiar music from my own time.

My thick fingers adjusted the pile of papers, tapped them into a neat pile, and slipped them into the draw under the desk. I didn’t think Amber would go prying through my work, but I didn’t want to take any chances that she’d come across my secret designs for her ring while tidying the smithy. Joints cracked as I stretched out my arms, briefly checking the drying process of the clay moulds I had set aside a couple of hours before, and slipped out of the smithy into the pale gloom of the main hallway of her home. An amber shaft of light filtering in from one window told me it was far later in the day then I thought it was, and I 'tsk'ed at just how much time had vanished through my fingers while I’d been working - the sun had just risen last I had seen it.

I really was going to have to get a clock or something in the smithy. Amber had never complained, but I knew she didn’t much approve when I lost track of time and woke her up those few times that I tried sneaking into bed late in the night.

The light of the bathroom was flicked on as I walked into the room, head shaking as I glimpsed briefly my soot stained hair and face in the mirror as I passed it to turn on the shower. I could still remember the shock I’d had when I had first tried to use the damned thing, I’d cursed loudly in Khazdul the moment it had spat water all over the place, and had fled the room with naught but a towel to preserve my modesty. A chuckle left my lips at the memory as I stripped myself of my dirty clothes, dropped them in the laundry hamper that stood in the corner, and stepped under the cooling shower of water. 

My intended had been so calm, despite how embarrassed she must have been, giving soft reassurances as she led me back to the room and showed me that there was nothing to fear by placing her arm under the water. I still had times where I didn’t entirely trust this odd device, it tended to randomly change temperatures if Amber turned a tap on elsewhere in the house, and more than once I’d been caught out by surprise if my One had left it on the ‘massage’ setting. Humans might not have real magic, but it certainly felt as if the house was alive and was out to get me most of the time. I grumbled to myself as I stepped fully under the water, fingers working through my hair to ease out the soot, and helping myself to some of Amber’s hair products because while it might be a ‘female’ product it left my hair gloriously silky.

My majestic uncle would have been so jealous to see my hair looking so shiny and healthy.

I found it surprising that I actually missed Thorin. The one time King had been a cold and aloof figure in my life and rarely had a smile on his face, let alone a kind word to say to anyone. But for all his faults the man had raised me as if I’d been his own son, teaching me all the things I needed to know to be a leader of my people, and giving me a stable childhood that most could only dream of. Part of me hoped Thorin was watching me from the halls of my ancestors, proud of the man I had become, even if I wasn’t exactly following the path that he’d once laid in front of me. The shower was turned off as I shook the water from my hair, running a hand over it to dry it as much as I could before stepping out and wrapping a towel around my lower half so that I could examine my face in the mirror.

My beard had definitely grown out a bit since I had last trimmed it, my fingers rubbing over my chin slightly as I pondered if I should allow it to grow out or not, and then deciding in the end to trim it back down. I was still in mourning for the family and life that I had left behind, and besides Amber seemed to rather approve of the style now that she had grown used to seeing me with a short trimmed beard. Back in middle-earth I would have spent hours hacking away at my hair with a pair of small sheers, but modern technology made the whole process a breeze - just a quick once over with an electric ‘beard trimmer’ and you was good to go. I’d once told my love that I’d not want to go back to middle-earth and I still stood by that assessment. Now that I was getting used to modern technology, I couldn’t imagine my life without it.

I towelled myself down, briefly pondered throwing on a bathrobe, and then walked out of the room with a shrug of my shoulders as I left the room with the towel wrapped around my waist once more. Tormenting Amber once again was probably not the best of ideas given I’d already flustered her once today, but I honestly couldn’t help myself - I still had too much boyish energy in my heart, and I found it way too much fun to watch her face flush and her eyes darken in desire for me. My kin might well have considered me an adult by now, but I still felt young at heart and being in this peaceful home was bringing out that propensity for wanting to ‘have a bit of fun’. The warmth in my soul guided me to our bedroom, my shoulder pushing the door open and smiling at the sight of her sat at her dresser combing her hair.

She turned to look at me; her face and neck flushing a bright pink as she took in the sight of me stood in the doorway and threw her arms up into the air in frustration though I knew she wasn’t actually mad with me - more a mix of amused annoyance.

“How on earth am I to do anything in the house with you standing in fucking doorways looking like the damned Adonis! Get in that bed right now, or so help me Mahal I will drag you there myself.”

I laughed as I closed the door behind me, she’d have a hell of a job dragging me anywhere, but I’d happily let her do it if I got a good roll in the sheets out of it.


	14. The Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is longer then usual, I hope you all enjoy it!. 
> 
> ++ Notes ++ 
> 
> Anything in // --- // is in iglishmêk

# Amber POV

I could feel a dozen eyes on us as we stood in the pale gloom of the evening light, my eyes scanning the crowd of people as they milled back and forth in the busy street, and feeling a deep blush forming on my face anytime a young woman would stop and stare at Fili with bright hopeful smiles on their lips. Fili’s unique appearance was always going to draw attention, but that didn’t mean I was enjoying the fact that he was getting so much of it. My eyes shifted to look at my lover, taking in the calm expression on his face and noting that he looked every inch the bored business man that had somehow found himself dragged along on a night out despite his complaints.

“They are late.”

Fili’s tone was slightly terse, the only sign that he wasn’t as calm as he appeared to be. I’d been introducing him to the modern world slowly via my dreams, but that didn’t mean that his first time out among other humans was going to be easy for him. Those pale eyes of his where slightly narrowed, focused on a small group of teenage boys that where stood on the corner of the street yelling corny one liners at whatever woman they lay eyes on. The behaviour of the males was clearly grating on that very respectful upbringing of his, and I knew it would take Fili years to get fully comfortable in the world that he had found himself in.

“Most likely trying to find a parking spot given it’s a busy night out.”

He moved his hands to brush over the dark fabric of his smart winter jacket, and I let out a low hum of approval at the thought that even in modern clothes he could give off an air of kingly majesty.

“Pah. If I had known, I would have suggested we go for another round between the sheets.”

I laughed lightly at his grumbled complaint, letting my hand pat against the firm muscles of the forearm that it was currently resting on. We hadn’t been able to keep our hands off one another ever since our relationship had become intimate, and I scoffed at the idea that this was supposed to be abnormal - apparently his mother had taught him as a youth that dwarves didn’t have strong sexual desires. I didn’t entirely know if Fili was just a rare outlier to what was normal, or if it was something to do with the fact that he was soul bound to a human rather than a dwarf.

My lips quirked as I spotted the familiar face of my sister through the crowd, her dark brown hair bobbing in long waves around her beatific face as she walked, and brightly painted red lips curled in a smile as she walked arm in arm with a tall man. My ability to judge the attractiveness of other men had sorely diminished now that I was soul bound to Fili, but even I could tell that the auburn-haired male that she walked with was every bit the ‘hottie’ she claimed him to be. He had a set of fine angular features, which made him look somewhat regal, but certainly not as regal as the proud and broad features of Kili’s face.

“Best put on your kingly airs and graces ... here comes my sister and that ‘hottie’ of hers.”

I could hear Fili let out a low ‘pssh’ of annoyance against the skin of my neck, shifting back upright as he did so and looking at the tall man with a scowl.

“Hann lítur út eins og bölvaður álfur.”

A chuckled passed my lips at Fili’s observation, I guessed that the tall man had an elvish look to him - with long elegant limbs, and a waspish body tone that brought to mind the slim toned actors and actresses that had played the elves in the movies. I gave a cheerful wave to Alice as she approached, bopping my hip playfully against that of my grumbling companion, and offered the poor dwarf a loving smile I hoped would ease the festering hate for elves that this tall man had awoken in him.

“Vertu kurteis ástin mín, það verður aðeins í klukkutíma. Hugleiddu þessa æfingu fyrir næstu viku.”

He was going to have to learn to get along with my family and their other halves, especially with Alice. My sister was a poor judge of character with men, very often allowing herself to be drawn in by a handsome face and a charming smile that could hide a world of sin. I really hoped that she had found herself a nice guy this time way, but the all too slick smile on his face and the rebellious twinkle in his eye told me that this was just another guy that was no good for her. Fili bristled from beside me, eyes partially narrowing as if he was very familiar with smiling politicians that had ulterior motives, and I couldn’t help but feel that it didn’t bode well for Alice if Kili was reacting to the man as if he where some snake slithering in the long grass looking for potential prey.

“Amber! It’s so good to see you. This must be Philip Beaumont, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Alice’s voice had that beautiful sing-song accenting that I was so very jealous of, her bright blue eyes sparkling in the light as she held her free hand out toward Fili with one of those dazzling smiles of hers still on her lips. Fili offered her a bright smile of his own, slipping into a kingly charm with such startling quickness that it made my head sprint, and I blinked owlishly as I watched him take that hand into his own so that he could place his lips to her knuckles. This was my first time seeing him as the person he had once been, a courtly royal that could charm the pants off any visiting dignitary and send them away with naught but good things to say about the Crown Prince of Ered Luin.

“At your service, but please just call me Phil ... Philip is so stuffy.”

His human name had expanded by pure necessity, something we’d had to do so that I could go through getting him the documentation he needed to register for vital health services and a bank account of his own. I’d started calling him Philip when introducing him to my family over the phone, a simple transition to make given that Phil was already a shortened version of that name. But choosing a last name had been tricky for it was something we both had to like because I’d be taking it as my own at soon enough, I’d joked that Beaumont had sounded rather regal and it had stuck ever since.

“I’m Alice Porter, and this is my partner Jack Harper.”

Jack tipped his head in greeting, those dark brown eyes of his shimmering in slight annoyance as he watched Fili’s most respectful greeting to his date - he was not at all happy that he had just been upstaged by some random man that he didn’t even know.

// Hit. nerve. there //

My iglishmêk was halting and uncertain. The complicated gestures were a lot more difficult to learn than a human sign language because I had to use my entire body to convey the silent language of the dwarves. Alice lifted one of her immaculately groomed brows in obvious curiosity as she watched the movements of my fingers and face, her eyes moving from me and then back to Fili as the dwarf let out a low snort of annoyance and gave an over dramatic roll of his eyes as he responded to me in kind.

// Not my problem that his ego is so easily wounded. //

Fili would not tone himself down just to soothe some young ‘alpha male’ that was upset that he’d just had his territory pissed all over by a rival male.

“When did you learn sign language, dear sister?”

Alice might be oblivious with men, but she had a keen eye and sharp intellect for just about everything else. She’d always been the smartest one in the family, could have become a damned good lawyer if she’d put her heart to it, but she’d decided in her late teens that it was far more important to be a party girl. Alice was twenty-five now and was still showing no signs of wanting to do anything with herself, and I blushed fiercely as I realised I shouldn’t be judging her at all because I’d been stagnating in the same dead-end job for years now.

“I started learning when I met this romantic sap, he’s a blacksmith ... hearing loss goes with the territory. He has real troubles in loud environments like this and can’t hear a damned thing.”

It was a lie, and I knew it. Fili could hear me perfectly well despite his trade, it would take a lot more than hammering at an anvil all day for a dwarf to lose his hearing, but it was just too perfect an excuse to explain why we were using ‘sign language’ to anyone that asked us about it. Fili let out a snort as if amused by my little white lie, wrapping both of his muscular arms around me, and pressed his warm lips to the sensitive skin that laid at the junction of my neck and shoulder.

“I’ll have you know I can read lips plenty well enough, now are we going to eat or not? I’m famished and I believe you said this place has a mean steak on the menu.”

Alice turned a deep red at Fili’s very public display of affection towards me, muttering something that sounded like ‘get a room’ under her breath, and I just laughed at her very obvious embarrassment. I’d been alone two years, and I was going to damn well enjoy myself now that I was in a loving relationship - if she didn’t like what she was seeing then she could look elsewhere. I nuzzled my cheek briefly in against the top of Fili’s head, letting out a soft sound of contentment, and shifted my hip to urge the dwarf to untangle himself from my body.

“It’s so mean that it will practically bite you, shall we?”

I slipped out of Fili’s arms the moment that his arms loosened their tender grip on me, his hazel eyes glimmering merrily in the restaurant's light as it spilled out into the darkening street, and extended the crook of his arm toward me so that I could slip my hand back into its warmth once again. My One was doing exceedingly well despite the overwhelming wariness that I could feel jangling at the back of his head, I’d heard of a warrior’s sixth sense before, but had no clue what that would feel like until it had made itself known via Fili. I constantly had to ignore the desire to look over my shoulder, as if some unknown foe might present itself at any moment, and could only hope that once we were in the quiet of the restaurant Fili would relax a little.

Since Alice had made the reservations, I allowed her to take the lead into the restaurant, the slim bodied Jack sauntering beside her with a wide smile on his lips and a swagger in his shoulders that I saw so often in over-confident young men. He was just like the naïve idiots on the corner, all too happy to have a war of words with someone bigger than him, but had none of the physical prowess to back it up with. For now he seemed to be happy enough to play the role of charming young man out on a date, though I could see the desire to pick a fight with Fili twinkling behind those eyes of his.

// He itching for fight //

Fili let out a low sound of agreement, large hands helping me shrug out of my coat once we were in the restaurant, and stopped for a moment to appreciate the sight of me in the dark green bandage dress I had brought specially for ‘out of the house’ dates. I always knew when he was undressing me with his eyes. Those pale depths always turned a distinct shade of amber brown, and his lips would quirk into a smile that said he thought himself the luckiest dwarf in two worlds.

// He can itch all he wants, but I ain’t giving him the satisfaction of scratching it for him. //

My one was mature enough to know that idiots like Jack were not worth his time and energy. If the young man wanted to ruin his evening out by scowling at Fili the whole time, then that was his own business and not ours. The pads of one of his thumbs traced along the chain of the necklace he had made for me, his eyes shimmering with fond memories and unbridled love before he turned to shrug out of his own coat and hand them toward a staff member that took them with a careful hand to hang them up in the cloakroom. Fili looked most dashing in his dark blue button-down shirt, and smart black dress trousers - though I still preferred to see him lounged on my sofa in naught else but his lounge pants for in my eyes Fili was sexy as all hell when he was relaxed.

Alice slipped past us, lips painted still in that customary smile of hers as she leaned over the check-in desk and spoke in hushed whispers to the dark-haired young woman that stood there. At first I thought maybe Alice knew the woman, she was a lot more social than I was and seemed to have a smorgasbord of acquaintances in the city, but one look into the woman’s frustrated face told me that Alice was just being overly friendly as per usual. There was something about the woman’s face that looked familiar to me, something in the set of her brow and the shape of her face that I had seen somewhere before, but damned if I could figure it out right now.

// Something bothering you? //

I could see Fili gesturing out of the corner of my eyes, the great thing about iglishmêk was that once you was familiar enough with it you no longer had to really watch the signs anymore to read them - I was definitely getting to the point where I didn’t have to watch his fingers as much anymore.

// Not sure. Feel like seen before //

The woman looked away from Alice as if she had caught sight of our conversation from the corner of her eyes, her eyes blinking slowly as if she had seen something she’d not expected to see, and then blushing beyond red as she set eyes on Fili.

// Are you sure that there are no other dwarves here? She certainly has some facial features of my kin, and I think I see a braid in her hair //

Oh, so that’s why I thought she looked so familiar in the face, she had some same gracile features that I saw in Fili’s face daily, and I lifted my brows slightly as I tried to see the braid that my One talked about. The young-looking woman leaned down to pull four leather bound menus from the check-in desk, her eyes glancing at us directly for a moment, and then turned to lead us into the restaurant proper. It was only with her back turned that I could see the braid that Fili had spotted hidden in the dark depths of her high ponytail.

“Ég hitti vissulega aldrei einn, en það var ekki eins og ég vissi að hverju ég leitaði. Ef þeir eru hér munu þeir ekki gera það augljóst fyrir utanaðkomandi aðila og það væri bölvað dónaskap af okkur að spyrja hana um það þegar hún er á vakt.”

It was so much easier to talk in Khazdul. The spoken language of the dwarves came a lot easier to me than the sign language did, and besides the best way to figure out if she was a dwarf without actually exposing her was to speak in the native tongue of their people and watch for her reaction. The tilt of her head toward us, the faint look of recognition in her face and the way her lips twitched told me she knew exactly what it was I had said, although she was trying to hide it from me. Date night had taken such a dramatic twist to the unexpected that I didn’t know if I would be able to actually focus on eating anymore.

// She certainly seems to recognise the language. We will leave a business card with her on the way out and let her contact us if she wishes //

Leaving one of Fili’s business cards with the woman was certainly one of the better ways for us to establish contact without interrupting her work. And besides, what if we were both terribly wrong about this? I could feel the chill within me as I slipped into one side of the booth that the server had taken us to and smiled up at Fili as he nestled in beside me with one of his muscular arms snaking around my body to rest over my shoulders. Mahal I hoped we weren’t wrong about this - Fili had already lost his connection to the dwarven culture, and I didn’t want to have the hope of reconnecting with his kin ripped out from under him just because we’d both made the wrong assumptions.

“So ... are you going to include us in your conversation, or what?.”

Jack’s curt comment reminded me we were being more than rude to our current companions for the evening by having a secret conversation right under their noses, and my sister’s brow lifted ever so slightly upward as if to say ‘what the fuck’ as she slipped into the opposite side of the booth with her surly date for the night.

“Just been a long day at work ... this poor soul has to put up with my venting. It’s not even that interesting. Had this idiot come in that wanted a couple of foot of green silk and then changed their minds after I’d cut the bolt. Boss pitched a fit when he saw how much silk I had to put in the remnants basket after that one.”

Alice let out a low grumble, she’d heard this a dozen times from me in the past - indecisive customers where my favourite thing to complain about after a long shift at work. She turned to the server who still seemed distracted by me and Fili, and gave a rather dramatic roll of her head.

“If your going to be complaining about work then we’re going to need drinks ... what’s your poison Phil?”

Fili gave a non-committal shrug of his shoulders, his body relaxing into the back of the chair, though he still felt somewhat on edge with our server watching us both so intently.

“Just order me whatever beer they have available, I’m not picky.”

Alice nodded her head at the request, pursued the menu with a critical eye, then ordered drinks for us all, and I wasn’t at all surprised to hear her ordering the white wine that I usually had when we ate out here. I wanted to complain that I might have wanted something different tonight, but decided against it because the wine in this place was top-notch stuff compared to the other restaurants that Alice liked to take me to. Besides, there wasn’t anything wrong with being fancy on the odd occasion, so the wine would do rather nicely.

“So how long have you and Jack been a thing?”

“About a couple of months, I met him in a bar down the road and couldn’t resist that roguish smile of his.”

Jack allowed a broad and overly toothy smile to appear on his face as picked up his own menu, as if to show off what Alice meant by roguish smile, and all I saw was a young man that had thought himself the bees knees for scoring a woman as gorgeous as my sister was. I could do glamorous if I wanted to on the odd occasion, but I was under no qualms that I was the plainer sister in appearance - she was the one that would always turn eyes and walk away with the date when I had gone clubbing with her in the past. An overwhelming feeling of love and affection drifted in from Fili as he picked up on that fleeting insecurity, a reminder that the handsome male beside me thought I was the most beautiful thing in the world and that was all that should matter.

“He’s a musician. Perhaps I could convince you and Phil to come to one of his shows after Christmas?”

I picked up my menu, eyes scanning the familiar selection of dishes and pursing my lips together in annoyance at the invitation that had been extended toward us - I needed more time with Jack like I needed a hole in the head.

“Not really our scene with the way Phil’s hearing is. Besides, we’re going to be busy planning a wedding in the new year.” // About time too. //

Fili chuckled at my silent elaboration, his head lowering to rest on my shoulder so that he could share the menu I was currently reading and whispered words of affectionate Khazdul into my ear. In the world he had come from I doubted he would have ever used the sacred languages of his people to communicate in front of strangers, but in this world it had become a vital tool to maintain secrecy when we wanted to talk about dwarven matters or more intimate things without getting all and sundry involved.

“Your getting married already? I thought you’d only been dating a few months, your not pregnant are you?”

I could feel the angry flush as it spread over my face. Why was it anytime a woman got married shortly after meeting someone, there had to be an assumption that she’d gotten herself pregnant?

“Certainly not. I’m an adult, and I take precautions. I’ve known Phil for a lot longer then a few months, it’s just that we didn’t put a name to that relationship until recently. Besides, he treats me like a goddamned queen ... who can say no to a husband like that?”

Part of me wanted to silently tease Fil on if he’d make a crown for his queen to wear at our wedding, but the server had come back with our drinks and I didn’t want her eavesdropping any further on our conversations. Fili took the wineglass from the woman with a careful hand, placed it in front of me, and then took the beer that my sister had ordered for him - a dark brown hued drink that looked like a craft beer to my eye.

A tall pale amber drink was passed along to Jack, who peered into the glass as if he where a man that had just walked in from the desert and seen water for the first time, and I wondered to myself just how much the tall man was planning to drink tonight. Mahal, I hoped he would not try to drink Fili under the table, because that was a contest he’d never win given how high a tolerance dwarves seemed to have toward alcohol.

“Are you ready to order?”

There was a definite accent to her voice. It was not as strong as Fili’s given he’d not yet lost his local dialect, but still present enough in her vocal tones to make me think she must have grown up speaking Khazdul.

“Phils, gagging to try the peppercorn rump steak and you know me ... I’m all about the leg of lamb, best this side of Cambridge. What about you guys?”

Alice rocked her head from side to side as she looked over the menu, one long finger running along the page as if that would help her choose and then letting out a sound of excitement as she saw something that she was interested in.

“I think I will have the pan seared salmon, what about you Jack? Are you still looking at having that bacon burger with fries?”

“You bet I am, would I be able to add extra bacon on that?”

The server nodded as she wrote our orders with practiced ease and then gathered in our menus with a bright smile on her lips before walking away with one last backward glance toward our table.

“Does she know you? She keeps looking at you funny.”

I gave a shrug of my shoulders, taking my wine glass into my hand and taking in the earthy notes that this vintage had as I relaxed back into the warmth of Fili’s broad torso.

“Unless you didn’t notice, Phil has a passing resemblance to Dean O’gorman. He gets odd looks all the time, but I’m so used to it I barely notice it anymore unless it’s a really crazy fangirl.”

Again the lie was founded in enough truth that it came spectacularly easy to my lips, Fili looked like O’gorman and he was bound to get all kinds of stares from people for that reason alone. Alice narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she leaned forward onto her elbows, her lips pressing together thoughtfully, and then nodded her head sagely.

“You know, now that you’ve said it, I do see a slight resemblance there ... I bet it’d be even more uncanny if he was to cut his hair.”

// As if I would ever cut my hair ... it’s against our cultural beliefs //

I turned my head slightly upward to look at my One from behind my lashes, rubbing my forehead against the stubble on his cheek, and shifting my glass so that I could respond to him. 

// But you shaved //

// That’s different. Shaving a beard is part of the mourning process for us //

Ahh so that was part of the reason he kept his beard so short these days, I had wondered frequently why he hadn’t grown it out again after he’d shaved off his moustache. The glass was brought to my lips so that I could sip at my wine for a moment, enjoying the rich flavours on my tongue as I tapped my foot flirtatiously against Fili’s ankle before giving my sister a rather wry smile.

“Phil said I’d have his neck if he cut his hair, and quite right too.. he looks rather handsome with it long.” // Plus I enjoy slipping my hands into those luscious locks of yours when we make love //

Fili almost chocked on his beer at my amorous statement, his face and ears blushing a rather attractive shade of pink before fixing me with a look that said ‘your going to get it when you get home’ that only had me giggling under my breath at how easily I could fluster the dwarf with my words. I lifted my free hand in a placating manner to let him know I wouldn’t tease him too badly while we were out of the house and let out a low growl of hunger as our plates were brought to the table. Our server had that same bright smile on her face as before, and I couldn’t fault her service despite the way she stared as she was being more than attentive toward us by making sure we didn’t need anymore drinks before leaving once again.

Conversation became a thing of the past as we tucked into the glorious food that had been brought to the table, my nose taking in a cacophony of scents that wafted from the table, and I made a promise to myself to bring Fili to this place regularly for date night. There was nothing wrong with Fili’s cooking, the stuff he made was so good that I’d joked that he could have become a chef if he wanted, but the poor man needed to get out of the house and actually exist among the rest of society before his isolation in my home started affecting his mental health. Every so often I could hear sounds of approval from Fili as he ate his meal, and I even allowed him to mooch a little from my plate so he could try some lamb.

I was pretty much in a state of near contentment by the time I finished eating. My body lounged casually back in against Fili as I nursed my second glass of wine and mused that things could have gone worse.

“What are your plans for the evening? Me and Jack are planning to go clubbing if you are interested in coming.”

“We appreciate the invite, but we have plans to take a nice romantic walk down the riverside instead.”

Alice waved over the server with a graceful wave of her hand, mouthing that we wanted the bill and smiling at the woman as she walked over toward the table with a small leatherette booklet in hand. Fili claimed the bill the instant it hit the table, and Alice beamed so broadly that I could have sworn that she had planned for one of us to pick up the bill all along.

“Are you sure? Me and Jack don’t mind paying.”

Jack made a non-committal sound, looking up at his date from over the top of his third pint glass of the evening, and I wondered if Alice could get him down the street, let alone into a club for dancing. As expected, the daft idiot had decided to one up Fili by ordering another pint, the moment Fili opted for a second beer, and my one had not been blind to this proverbial pissing contest. He’d stopped drinking the moment he figured out what was going on - because he didn’t want to be the one held responsible if Jack got himself into mischief tonight.

“It’s fine. It was my turn to cover dinner, anyway.”

“Thank you Phil, that’s real nice of you. Remind me to get the bill next time we go out.”

Yeah, fat chance of that one. The evening had been pleasant enough, but it would have been better if it had just been me and Fili. Alice shook herself as if waking up her sleepy muscles and gave Jack a jab in the side that seemed to jolt him out of his tipsy haze for a moment.

“It was so lovely to meet you Phil, but we’re going to have to get going now if we want to beat the line at the club.”

I didn’t care that the pair were essentially dumping and leaving us now they knew the bill was covered; I was done looking at Jack, and I’d had just about enough of my sister for one night. I watched the pair leave with a grunt as Fili slipped his bank card into the bill wallet before handing it over to our server.

“Remind me never to take up her invitation for a double date ever again.”

“Duly noted my love.”

My legs stretched out in front of me as I tried to convince my sated body that it was time to get moving, one hand reaching for my clutch and searching for the wad of bills I always had stashed within it. Two crisp twenty-pound notes were wrapped around one of Fili’s business cards as I pushed myself to my feet, nudging against Fili playfully so that I could pass him and slip the more than generous tip into the hand of our server as she returned with Fili’s receipt.

“Fyrirgefðu að þú þurftir að þola þessa tvo, þetta ætti að bæta fyrir það. Ef þú ert það sem við höldum að þú sért skaltu kaupa hrafn og við vitum hvað það þýðir.”

This would be the biggest gamble I’d ever have to make on Fili’s behalf, but I would make that bet a dozen times over if it gave him a link back to his lost heritage. The woman gave me a nod, slipped her tip into the pocket of her smart trousers, and then politely wished us a goodnight before she left to see to another one of her tables.

As I left the restaurant arm in arm with Fili, I couldn’t help but allow myself to feel a little of hope that perhaps I was right.

Mahal, I sure hoped I was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ++ Translations ++ 
> 
> **Hann lítur út eins og bölvaður álfur**  
>  He looks like a damned elf
> 
>  **Vertu kurteis ástin mín, það verður aðeins í klukkutíma. Hugleiddu þessa æfingu fyrir næstu viku**  
>  Be polite my love, it’ll only be for an hour. Consider this practice for next week.
> 
>  **Ég hitti vissulega aldrei einn, en það var ekki eins og ég vissi að hverju ég leitaði. Ef þeir eru hér munu þeir ekki gera það augljóst fyrir utanaðkomandi aðila og það væri bölvað dónaskap af okkur að spyrja hana um það þegar hún er á vakt.**  
>  I certainly never met one, but it wasn't like I knew what I was looking for either. If they are here they won't make it obvious to an outsider, and it'd be damned rude of us to ask her about it when she is on shift. 
> 
> **Fyrirgefðu að þú þurftir að þola þessa tvo, þetta ætti að bæta fyrir það. Ef þú ert það sem við höldum að þú sért skaltu kaupa hrafn og við vitum hvað það þýðir.**  
>  I'm sorry you had to put up with those two, this should make up for it. If you are what we think you are, buy a raven and we'll know what it means.


End file.
